Eternity Vow
by Athene Cunicularia
Summary: Seth felt guilty for Kisara's death and he tried to find a way to freed himself from his regret. What will he do when his life path crossed with another dragon wielder? Priest Seth x Fem!Jouno x Thief Bakura. Beta read and rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko
1. Chapter 1 : Prologue

**Eternity Vow**

By Athene Cunicularia

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Warning : Gender bender

Summary : Seth felt guilty for Kisara's death and he tried to find a way to freed himself from his regret. What will he do when his life path crossed with another dragon wielder?

Pairing : Priest Seth x Fem!Jouno x Thief Bakura

Rating : T

Genre : Romance/Fantasy

A/N : The Sequel of "Bond of Wrap", enjoy~! ^^

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He carried her cold body and walked approaching the stone tablet with dragon figure curved on its surface. He looked at the stone tablet for quite a long time, before he opened his eyes and realized that it was only a dream.

_That dream again…_ Seth sighed as he woke up from his bed.

He went to the palace balcony for some fresh morning air. The sunrise brightens the view around the palace, making it a very beautiful scenery. He stayed there for a while before he went back to his room. He couldn't get rid of his guilty feeling towards the incident that happened several months ago. He blamed himself for the white dragon wielder's death, even though it's not entirely his fault.

He prepared himself for his duty as one of the high priest that serves the great pharaoh, his own younger cousin. Perhaps some people thought that he would like to take over his cousin's royal throne because of his ambitious attitude. He got used to hear some kind of rumours related to it, like putting a venomous snake to pharaoh's room or put some poison secretly to pharaoh's food.

Even though he was arrogant and selfish, he didn't have any desire for the royal throne. His father obsession of making him the pharaoh instead of his cousin had killed the girl that precious to him. Now he lived with the regret of her death. He didn't want to end up like that; he believed that one day he could repay what he did to her.

He took the millennium rod with him to the throne room together with five other high priests. Each of them carried the different kind of millennium item to help pharaoh protecting the kingdom of Egypt. The situation changed since the thief king made a chaos and suddenly disappeared without any trace. All the people of Egypt haunted by fear for his return.

The pharaoh and his six high priests already searched for him throughout the country, but there was no sign of him. Even the millennium necklace unable to detect his whereabouts. What they did now was waited to let the thief king to appear by himself.

One of the palace guards approached the pharaoh, knelt down before he asked him a question.

"Great pharaoh, may we open the court?" He asked for permission to the pharaoh.

"Very well." The pharaoh granted the permission.

"Bring in the prisoners!" The palace guard shouted to the other.

The other palace guards entered the throne room with a hooded girl; they dragged her before the pharaoh and his six high priests. She struggled to release their grip, but she wasn't strong enough to do it.

"Let me go!" She shouted to the palace guards.

"A girl?" The high priests looked at her in wonder.

_A girl, huh? This is going to be interesting..._ Seth talked to himself.

"This girl was caught stealing other people's belonging in the market, this is the proof." The guard threw a bag full of fruits.

"I do this for the street kids, they're starving." She defended herself.

"Whatever the reason, stealing is a violation of the rule of law. You don't have any right to giving any excuse for it." One of the high priests rejected her argument.

"Now your crime will be judge by the seven millennium item!" the pharaoh advisor declared the judgement.

"Millennium key, look into this girl's heart!" High priest Shada pointed the millennium key to the girl.

He tried to see through her heart, but there was something powerful inside her. His sight was blocked by her power, made him unable to see her heart.

"There's something powerful inside her that block the millennium key!" High priest Shada told the other high priests.

"What?" They looked at each other. That was unprecedented case in the judgement.

_She's really something;__I wonder what other surprises that will be shown by her._ Seth smirked at her.

"If that's the case, I'll try to reveal her power with the millennium eye!" High priest Ammon; the millennium eye new holder used his power.

This time, she felt something inside her body. The black and thick smoke came from her chest and wrapped her body until she was totally covered with it.

"Is that the true form of her ka?" They really confused.

"Hmpf. If that smoke is her ka, I will seal it easily with the millennium rod." Seth pointed the millennium rod to the smoke.

"Wait." The pharaoh ordered Seth.

"What is it, pharaoh?" Seth asked him.

"I felt there's something powerful inside the smoke, don't act recklessly." The pharaoh narrowed his eyes to the smoke.

"Hmpf, as you wish." Seth folded his arm.

The pharaoh and his six high priests kept waiting, until the smoke started to fade. Their eyes widened when the smoke completely vanished from their sight.

_A black dragon!_ They amazed by the black dragon with red eyes that appeared before them.

"So that's the true form of her ka..." The high priests looked at the dragon.

"Wait, where's she?" The pharaoh advisor asked the high priests, they searched for the girl but it seems that she was nowhere.

_Don't say that... She is the black dragon?_

- To Be Continued -

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Hi~ this is A.C. speaking! ^^

I created this fic based on the same doujinshi as the "Bond of Wrap" (' v ')

Please R&R for the improvement of this fic~! *bow* (_ _)

Beta Read by Yami Ace and Neko, thank you so much~ (^ ^)


	2. Chapter 2 : Dragon Girl

The second chapter of this fic, enjoy~ ^^

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**~ Chapter 2: Dragon Girl ~**

The pharaoh and his six high priests faced with a mysterious girl on the court. They tried to reveal her ka, but instead they found something unexpected. The girl turned into a black dragon and fled away from the palace guards that captured her. The dragon tried to escape from the throne room but Seth quickly blocked the way with the empty slab stone and pointed the millennium key to her.

"Evil ka! Dark spirit of chaos! Be gone and enter the holy stone!" Seth shouted to the dragon.

The dragon was forced by the millennium key power to get inside the slab stone, but she managed to escape by breaking the slab stone.

_What a persistent girl..._ Seth thought to himself.

"Hmpf, it seems that I'm a little bit underestimating you." He casted a spell to summon monster from the stone slab.

"Cattle Demon, don't let her out of this room!" Seth ordered the monster he summoned.

Cattle Demon used its ability to created mystical rope to wrap the dragon. She tried to release the bound by spreading her wings, but it turned out to damage the throne room ceiling. The crumbling ceiling fell down and about to hit the people below it. The dragon quickly landed to the ground and used herself as shield for them.

"She protected us from the ceiling ruin." The palace guards looked at her in wonder.

After ensured that everybody saved, the dragon got rid the ruin on her body before she turned back into her human form and collapsed due to exhaustion. The palace guard gazed at the pharaoh and his six high priests, waited for the next command. The high priests looked at each other; they were confused with the incident that occurred earlier. Seth walked, approaching the girl and checked her condition.

"...Bring that girl to the empty room in the palace and make sure she got the best treatment." Seth ordered the palace guards.

"Yes." They took her away from the throne room immediately, leaving the pharaoh and his six high priests alone.

"That's really an unusual event." Shada expressed his opinion.

"Yeah, she's really different compared to other captured criminals." Mana; the new holder of millennium ring agreed with him.

"Not only possessed such a powerful ka, even she could merge with it." Isis told the others.

"The millennium scale didn't tilt when I pointed at her." Kalim informed them.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't feel anything sinister from that girl." The pharaoh looked at his six high priests.

"...So that's mean she's innocent and we have to release her soon after she awake from her unconsciousness." The pharaoh advisor suggested him.

"I don't agree with that decision. If she got out from this palace, I'm sure that she will repeat the same thing." Seth rejected the suggestion.

"So what do you want to do with her?" The pharaoh asked him.

"I'm going to take her as one of my servant. I will take any responsibilities for anything related to her. Now I'm going to take my leave." Seth bowed at the pharaoh before he left the throne room. After Seth disappeared from their sight, they started to talked about him.

"...What is he planning to do with that girl?" Ammon asked the other high priests.

"I have no idea; he always had his own way of doing things." Shada shook his head.

"I wonder why he wants to keep her in here..." Mana rolled her eyes.

"Whatever his plan is, I believe that's for the sake of this kingdom." The pharaoh smiled at them.

"Yes, O great pharaoh." The high priests nodded.

Meanwhile, Seth went into the room where that girl was rested and treated by the palace doctor. The guards gave way to him when they saw him walk towards them. He approached the palace doctor and questioned about the girl.

"What is the girl's condition?" Seth asked him.

"She has some new wounds on her back and she really exhausted. She needs some rest to heal herself." The palace doctor answered him before he left Seth together with the unconscious girl.

Seth slowly walked towards her bed and looked at her closely. Even though her body was covered with dirt and dust, he could tell that she had unusual white skin. Somehow it reminded him about the girl that saved his live and gave the white dragon to him. The guilty feeling surrounded his heart, made it felt really hurt.

_Why do I remember Kisara when I see this girl? Does she have something to do with her?_

- To Be Continued -

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After I created the chapter one of this story, I reread the manga to search for fic reference. I just realized that Shada supposed to be dead due to using his body to protecting Atem from Bakura's attack! (O - O)!

Since this is only a fic, I guess that it's okay... ha ha (- v -") *Try to defend myself* (Just consider this as an AU...)

Sorry for the lack of story reference. *bow* (_ _)

Beta Read and Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	3. Chapter 3 : Servant

I will use 'The high priest' instead of 'Seth' for a while until Jouno able to find out his name, enjoy~ ^^

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**~ Chapter 3: Servant ~**

The dragon girl had collapsed after she protected the people below her from the ruin of the ceiling. The pharaoh, his advisor and the high priests believed that she was innocent. They decided to let her go after she awake from her unconsciousness, but the high priest wanted to keep her inside the palace as his servant. He went to the room where she rest after being treated by the palace doctor and waited for her to be awakened.

She was standing alone in the empty field, wondering why she was there. Suddenly someone appeared from a distance. She couldn't saw that person very well, but she seems acknowledged him. She tried to approaching that person, but no matter how fast she ran towards him, she couldn't reach him. That person slowly walked away from her.

_Please wait for me!_ She tried to spoke, but there was no sound coming out of her mouth.

She used all of her might to follow that person; however she couldn't catch up with him. That person gradually faded until he completely disappeared from her sight.

"No!" She suddenly jolted from her unconsciousness when the high priest was getting closer to her, made both of their head were collided.

Both of them tried to endure the pain coming from their head while they glanced at each other.

"How dare you hit my head." The high priest glared at her with anger.

"...What's happened? Where am I?" She stared at him confusedly then looked around the room.

"You're passed out and now you are resting inside the palace. Be grateful for the pharaoh kindness, you are released from your punishment." The high priest replied her.

"...Does that mean I'm free?" Her eyes widened.

"That's not quite right. In exchange for your freedom, starting from now you are working as my servant." The high priest folded his arm.

"But I-" Before she could finish her words, the high priest interrupted her by putting his index finger right in front of her mouth.

"I don't want to hear any excuse from you. No matter what the reason you gave, the result won't change." The high priest was about to turn away, but she took hold his cape.

"You can treat me as you like, but please let me meet the children in the market at least for the last time. I beg you..." She bowed down to the high priest.

"...Hmpf, very well. I'll accompany you there, but don't think of trying to run away." The high priest stared at her.

"No, I won't do such a thing!" She stared back at the high priest.

"You're quite interesting, what is your name?" The high priest asked her.

"I'm Jouno. What's your name... Master?" She asked him back hesitantly.

"Does a dog need to know its master's name, Jouno?" The high priest smirked at her.

Jouno didn't know how to reply his words, she became speechless. The high priest walked out the room, waited for her to catch him up. When she realized that the high priest wanted her to follow him, Jouno quickly ran towards him. Before they went to the market, the high priest told his lady servants to cleaned Jouno and dressed her up.

"But master, I don't deserve such a thing." Jouno tried to refuse the high priest's kindness.

"Don't get me wrong, I did this for myself. What would people think if the high priest walked together with a girl with bare face and rags?" The high priest gave his lady servants sign to took Jouno away.

"...As you wish." Jouno sighed.

She reluctantly let the lady servants took her to the bathing room, poured the water, and washed her with the finest _natron_. They gave her a pot of perfume oil and a sleeveless white linen dress. After she put on the dress, they applied _kohl_ on her eyelids then the mixture of red ochre clay on her lips and cheeks. For the final touch, the lady servants put the gold and lapis lazuli jewellery on her.

Meanwhile, the high priest waited for Jouno to come out from the bathing room. He sat on the ebony chair in the palace balcony, looked at the view from up there. After quite a long time, one of his lady servants approached the high priest.

"The girl has been dressed properly." She instructed the other lady servants to bring Jouno in front of him.

The high priest got up from his seat, looked carefully at her new appearance from top to bottom.

"Now please excuse us..." The lady servants bowed at him before they left Jouno and the high priest alone.

They were standing in silence for a moment before the high priest opened the conversation.

"...That's beyond my expectation." He smiled smugly at Jouno.

"Are you trying to make fun of me?" She stared at him angrily.

"I'm just telling the truth." The high priest folded his arm.

"If you said so..." She tried to hide her blush.

"Are we going to waste our time standing like this?" He walked away from the balcony.

"Of course not!" Jouno followed him from behind.

They walked out of the palace and headed to the marketplace.

- To Be Continued -

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I was too sleepy to update the fic yesterday, so I thought that I could do it tomorrow. (=_=)

But when I turned on the internet this morning, it was unable to connect with the service provider (O - O)

I'm so sorry for the late update... *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	4. Chapter 4 : Journey

The journey to find the lost children, enjoy~ ^^

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**~ Chapter 4: Journey ~**

The high priest allowed Jouno to meet the children in the marketplace for the last time, in exchange for her freedom. They left the palace together with ten palace guards to prevent something that would happen on the way there. The people suddenly stopped their activities and knelt down as the high priest walked past them.

_So this is what it feels to be an authorized person..._ Jouno amazed by the sight of hundreds people kneeling down before their group.

They kept walking straight ahead until they reached the slums that located at the end of the path. All of the people that lived in that area were shocked by the high priest's sudden arrival. They quickly came out from their house and knelt down in front of their group. They didn't dare to look into the high priest's eyes, their body were trembling.

"What business do you have in this dirty place, my lord?" The elder of the slum asked for the high priest and his group arrival.

The high priest allowed Jouno to spoke first.

"I'm searching for pale-skinned twins with blue eyes and white hair. Do you know or heard anything about them?" Jouno asked the elder.

_Pale-skinned twins with blue eyes and white hair..._ The high priest eyes widened when he heard it.

"W-we're terribly sorry! We deserve to get severe punishment..." The settlers apologized to them.

"What are you apologizing for?" The high priest approached the elder and stood right in front of him.

"...Last night there's a group of men with black robes came here and took the twins with them." The elder answered nervously.

"Why you didn't help them?" Jouno quickly grabbed the elder's coat, made him more afraid.

"W-we were too afraid to stop them... They bring swords in their hand." The elder stuttered.

"Please let him go, this is my entire fault! I'm the one who deserved to be blamed for it!" Suddenly a guy stood up from the place he knelt and moved to cover the elder.

"No, this is entirely my fault!" Another guy stood up and covered the elder.

"I'm responsible for those children, because I'm the one who saw them before that event occurred!" This time a lady stood up and covered the elder.

The settlers moved one by one to protected the elder. Jouno, the high priest, and the palace guards were amazed by their strong relationship. The settlers kept begging for their elder's sake, made the high priest's group stood in silence for a moment.

"...We didn't come here to capture or punished you. We just want to search for the twins." The high priest explained the situation to the settlers.

"We maybe too weak to help the twins from those men, but we could escort you to their hideout." One of the settlers volunteered as their guide.

"Really? Thank you so much!" Jouno took the guy's hands and shook it excitedly.

"You welcome, miss..." The guy replied her groggily.

The high priest glared at them, but he quickly looked to the other direction when Jouno and his eyes were meeting. Jouno didn't understand why the high priest suddenly avoided her eye contact.

"Shall I show the way, my lord?" The guy bowed down in front of the high priest.

"Hmpf, do what you want to." The high priest answered with sarcastic tone.

So, the guy from the slums escorted them to the outside of the city wall and walked to the middle of the desert. The sun was about to set, but they hadn't reached their destination yet and they were already too far away to go back to the city. They decided to stop the journey as they reached a small oasis.

"We couldn't continue our journey at night, so please rest in here until tomorrow." The guy informed the high priest.

"Fine... Set the campfire for tonight!" He ordered the palace guards.

The palace guards quickly gathered small branches and twigs to make a bonfire. The guy from the slums was helping them when Jouno approached him.

"How far is the hideout? Can we just continue it a little bit more?" Jouno asked the guy while picking up the twigs.

"...Unfortunately, their hideout is quite far away from here. But don't worry, I'm sure that we could arrive there tomorrow." The guy looked at the red skies.

"I'm just a little bit worried about their condition right now..." She sighed worriedly.

"They're not what they seem to be, they're strong and tough." He patted Jouno's head.

"Thank you." Jouno smiled at him.

They continued their small conversations while gathering the small branches for the bonfire as the high priest watched them from a distance.

- To Be Continued -

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Whenever I created a fic, my first idea would be different from what I type... (= v =")

Thank you for reading this fic~! *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	5. Chapter 5 : Night

The night in the middle of the desert, enjoy~! ^^

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**~ Chapter 5: Night ~**

The high priest, Jouno and the palace guards went to the slums that are located at the end of the market's path to search for the twins. The slump settlers said that the twins were taken away by some men with black robe and they hid them in their hideout. One of the settlers volunteered to be their guide to the hideout, but it seems that the high priest didn't like the idea. They walked until the sun set and decided to spent the night near a small oasis. Jouno and the guy from settlers became closer as they talked to each other.

"Hahahaha... Please stop it!" Jouno tried to hold her laugh because of the guy's joke.

"No way, that's not the main story yet... Heh heh." He grinned stupidly to made Jouno laugh harder.

"I surrender, Ha ha ha..." Jouno took a deep breath.

"Alright, alright... I give you chance to breath." He stood up from the ground, stretched his legs and arms.

"Ha ha ha... By the way, I don't know your name yet." Jouno looked at him.

"Oh yeah, I'm Akefia. Nice to meet you." He offered his hand to Jouno; somehow it made her remembered something from her past.

"...My name is Jouno, nice to meet you too." She replied his hand.

Suddenly the high priest walked towards them and grabbed Jouno's arm.

"I have something to ask you." He dragged Jouno away from Akefia.

"W-wait a minute master!" Jouno tried to walk properly.

"See you later Jouno!" Akefia waved his hand to Jouno.

After they lost from his sight, Akefia's expression changed; his smiley face switched with scary grin and he chuckled evilly.

_The game is about to begin, enjoy your remaining time while you can... Heh heh_

Meanwhile, the high priest finally let Jouno's hand go after walked quite far away from the bonfire.

"Why are you doing this?" Jouno rubbed her arm; there was a grip mark on it.

"I just want to know something." The high priest folded his arm.

"What do you want to know master?" Jouno asked him.

"What is your relation with the twins?" He looked at Jouno.

"... I don't have any relationships with them; I'm just met them several days ago." She replied him.

"If they're just strangers, then why did you urge to go meet them?" The high priest asked her.

"...I'm not really sure why, but somehow I felt familiar with them." Jouno answered him.

_Perhaps it's because of the__black dragon inside her, but are the twins' really__white dragon wielders__just like Kisara?_ He thought to himself.

"What do you know about them?" The high priest asked her again.

"Hmm... They're twelve years old; their body is this tall..." Jouno explained him with her hand.

"Are they newcomers?" He kept asking her.

"Yes, they told me that they're come all the way over here to search for their missing sister." She continues her explanation.

_Missing sister..._ Suddenly the high priest's heart felt something painful that opened up his memories about that time.

"Are you alright master?" Jouno looked at him worriedly.

"I'm alright; it's just because of the night air." He shook his head.

"Yeah, it's really cold today." She rubbed her uncovered arm.

"Let's go back to the bonfire." He embraced Jouno to warm her body up.

"Yeah..." She nodded nervously.

They sat around the bonfire in silence; they could even hear the sound of the burned branches. Jouno curled up her body, tried to reduce the coldness of the night air. Akefia realized her attitude and he quickly embraced her, he pushed her head gently to lean on his chest. Jouno and the high priest were surprised by his act.

"Y-you don't have to do this." Jouno said timidly.

"It seems that you had a fever... Just go to sleep." He put his hand on her forehead to check her condition.

"...Thank you." Jouno closed her eyes while Akefia stroked her hair gently to make her feel comfort.

It didn't take more than ten minutes for her to fall asleep.

"You don't look happy, mister priest. Something wrong?" Akefia smiled at the high priest.

"What is your purpose in doing this?" The high priest stared at him suspiciously.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Akefia stroked Jouno's hair gently.

"Don't act dumb, you clearly do know what I mean." The high priest glared at him angrily.

"Shh... You don't want to wake her up, right mister priest?" Akefia chuckled quietly while kept stroking her hair.

"Don't make such a stupid excuse." He folded his arm.

Suddenly Jouno mumbled something in her sleep that stopped their quarrel.

"Bakura..." She whispered softly, there was a tiny drop of tear that flowing out from her eyes.

_Bakura?_ The high priest didn't believe what he heard. _Did she just say__that name?_ He narrowed his eyes.

Both of the guys remained silent after that small event; they had their own thought about it. They kept thinking of it, but slowly their eyes began to feel heavy and finally they were sleeping near the bonfire in the middle of the desert...

- To Be Continued -

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Recently I like to search for Yu-Gi-Oh! Japanese version seiyuu's voice. Then I found the second dubber for Ryou Bakura's voice, Rika Matsumoto. First I was a little bit disappointed by the fact that Ryou's voice actor is a woman (I never watch the anime, I only read the manga). But all of my disappointment changed when I heard her 'Legendary Laughter' (O - O)!

Now I really respect her thanks to that laughter... LOL~! XD

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	6. Chapter 6 : Ambush

Something unexpected happened to the group, enjoy~ ^^

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**~ Chapter 6: Ambush ~**

The group spent the night in the middle of the desert on the way to the twins' kidnapper's hideout. Jouno opened and blinked her eyes before she looked at the environment around her; the skies weren't as dark as before, the bonfire had turned into a pile of charcoals and ashes. She tried to get up from the ground, but her shoulder was held tightly by Akefia while her legs were on the high priest's lap.

_Huh? What's going on here?_ Jouno were confused with what happened to her.

Jouno looked up and stared for quite a long time at the high priest and Akefia's sleeping face. They looked so peaceful and innocent in their sleep, just like two little boys that hidden inside their adult body. Then she realized that she had to get out from them and so she wanted to wake the two guys up, but she just couldn't do it.

_Uhh... I can't move unless I__wake them up, but it seems that they're really exhausted yesterday..._ She talked to herself.

Jouno had another plan; she slowly moved her body away from them, tried not to wake them up. Suddenly she felt that Akefia moved his arm, tightening his hug against her. She was surprised by his move and quickly looked up.

"Good morning, Jouno." He smiled at Jouno, made her really nervous.

"G-good morning." She smiled stiffly, she tried to loosen the hug.

"I'm sorry... Did I hurt you?" He quickly released her from his arm.

"No, it's just..." Before she finished her sentences, the high priest interrupted her.

"You make her feel uncomfortable." He stood up from the ground.

"Oh, good morning my lord. Do you sleep well?" Akefia smiled at him.

"Hmpf, not as well as you." The high priest folded his arm.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Akefia smirked at him.

Their unfriendly attitude towards each other made their surroundings around them became uncomfortably tense, Jouno didn't understand why they ended up like that but one thing that she knew was something bad could happen to the group if they continued being like that.

"Umm... The sky is really bright today isn't it?" She tried to distract them.

They stopped their quarrel and looked at her without expression.

_D-did I just do something wrong? _Jouno got scared with their gaze.

"Yeah, we have to go as soon as possible." Akefia looked at the skies.

"Let's get moving." The high priest ordered them to move away from the oasis.

_Phew... At least they didn't fight each other again._ Jouno relieved.

The group left the oasis and walked through the desert. As the sun went higher, the heat around that area was increasing. They kept walking while trying to endure the heat that surrounds them. At the end of the day, they finally reached to the men in the black robes' hideout.

"That's their hideout over there." Akefia pointed at a small cave that hidden behind the valley.

"Hmpf, that doesn't look like as it's supposed to be." The high priest folded his arm.

"Even though this place is their hideout, but I can't see anybody there..." Jouno narrowed her eyes.

"Off course you can't see them... That's because they're right behind you." Before the group managed to look at their back, they were attacked by the men in black robes.

"What's going on?" Before Jouno managed to understand the situation they encountered, she felt someone grabbed her neck and quickly pinched her nerves.

Her eye sight suddenly turned black and she couldn't move her body. Before she completely lose herself, she heard somebody cried out her name.

_Jouno!_ The sound started to fade from her mind as she lost her consciousness.

_Who's calling out my name?_

- To Be Continued -

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I finally managed to finish this chapter! *Oh my God thank you so much* (TT v TT)o

There're three main reasons for the update delay : Homeworks, stucked ideas, and last but not least... The-Always-Trolling-Internet-Connection! #AARRGGHH!

I'm so sorry for my stupid babbling. *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	7. Chapter 7 : Reunion

The reason behind the betrayal, enjoy~ ^^

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**~ Chapter 7: Reunion ~**

The group finally reached the hideout by the end of the day, but something unexpected awaits them. Suddenly they were attacked by the men with black robes from behind. Even there was no time for Jouno to understand the situation they faced because someone had made her unconscious. Before she completely lost her consciousness, she heard someone cried out her name.

_Jouno...!_ The voice had successfully made her come back to her senses.

"Uhh..." She opened her eyes, her neck felt really hurt from the pinch that made her passed out.

"Finally you're awake... You've passed out for a day." The high priest looked at her.

"...Master?" Jouno tried to moved her arms, but she couldn't do it.

"What is this?" She looked at her back and realized that both of her wrist were tied up with rope.

"...It seems that we fell into their trap." The high priest told her.

"What do you mean?" Jouno couldn't believe what he just said.

"That means you've been tricked all the time... Heh heh." They quickly turned around to see the voice owner, it was Akefia.

He appeared from behind Jouno and the high priest. Akefia walked towards them with creepy smile on his face then chuckled evilly at them.

"Akefia, you..." She looked at him in disbelief.

"Actually I really don't want to do things like this, but the situation doesn't leave me another choice." He replied her.

"Hmpf, no wonder you wanted to be our guide." The high priest glared at him angrily.

"You're a little bit too late to wondering now, mister priest... Heh heh." Akefia grinned at him.

"...Where are the twins?" Jouno asked him.

"Like what I said before, I'll bring you guys back together." Akefia whistled at the men with black robes, they quickly went out of the room and came back dragging pale-skinned and white haired boy and girl with them.

_The twins really__do__look like her..._ The high priest thought at himself.

"Khairo! Khana!" Jouno cried out their name as they dragged by the men in black robes.

"Big sister Jouno!" The twins struggled from the men's grip.

"Heh heh... What a touching reunion." Akefia smirked at them.

"You're really good in ruining someone's mood." The high priest talked to him sarcastically.

"I don't know what are you planning right now, but please let them go. They didn't do anything wrong..." Jouno begged him.

"I don't have any reasons to keep them here now, so I guess I'll set them free." Akefia looked at the twins.

"You will?" Jouno looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah I will, but with one condition." He held up his pointed finger.

_Condition?_ Jouno and The high priest had a bad feeling about it.

"I didn't say anything but you guys are already that scared, what a coward." Akefia chuckled at them.

"I-I'm not scared." Jouno denied his remark.

"Just spit it out, traitor." The high priest glared at him with disgust.

"Heh heh... Slow down mister priest. The only thing I want for the exchange of their freedom is her." Akefia pointed his index finger at Jouno.

_Huh?_ Jouno looked at him in disbelief.

"What do you want from her?" The high priest snapped at Akefia.

"I have something to be settled with that girl so it's none of your business, mister priest." Akefia smirked at him.

_Something to be settled with me?_ Jouno was confused with his words.

"She's my servant and that means I have right to get involved in everything that related to her." The high priest gave opinion.

_Please don't decide other people's life by yourself!_ Jouno shouted at the high priest in her mind.

"You really are the most persistent and annoying priest I've ever dealt with." Akefia shook his head.

"So you've dealt with other priests?" The high priest asked him.

"Not only with the priests, but I have dealt with the pharaoh himself... Heh heh." Akefia chuckled at him.

"What do you mean by dealing with the pharaoh?" The high priest narrowed his eyes.

"It seems that you started to get the clue, maybe this could solve the mysteries." Akefia took a cloth from the ground and covered himself with it then he tossed it away from him.

_That's..._ The high priest and Jouno eyes were widened, they couldn't believe with what they see.

"Heh heh... Surprised? You should be..." Akefia's appearance had completely changed; his short black hair had turned into white medium length hair, his black colored eyes switched into light lavender, and there was scar on his right face.

_The Thief King Bakura had returned!_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

The main part of the fic is about to begin! XD

I hope I could update it as fast as possible. (' w ')

Please keep reading this fic~! *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	8. Chapter 8 : Option

Jouno has to choose between the twins or her own freedom, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 8: Option ~**

Jouno, the high priest and his guards had fallen into the trap; they were captured and brought into the men in black robes' hideout. Akefia admitted that he was the person behind this plan and he made it even worse by revealing his true identity; The Thief King Bakura. The thief king seems very pleased when he saw their shocked face.

"Do you miss this face? Heh heh." Bakura chuckled darkly.

"Hmpf. So this is the way you hide yourself, you sly thief." The high priest smirked at him.

"At least my trace can't be sniffed out by the pharaoh and his palace dogs." Bakura grinned at him.

Jouno couldn't turn her gaze from the thief king, her body was trembling and she hardly made a sound came out from her mouth.

"Bakura..." She whispered softly at his direction.

Bakura managed to hear her whisper and turned his head towards her.

"Long time no see, Jouno." He smiled at her bitterly.

"...Why? Why we have to meet again like this?" Jouno made every effort to spoke to him.

"It seems that you haven't heard the story yet, huh?" Bakura asked her.

"What's story?" Jouno asked him back.

"Why don't you ask your master to explain everything?" Bakura pointed at the high priest.

"Master, what's going on?" Jouno turned at his master.

The high priest didn't want to open his mouth.

"Is it that hard to tell her the truth?" Bakura provoked him.

It took quite a long time before the high priest took a deep breath and decided to told her the whole story; from the thief king sneaked into the palace to challenge the pharaoh and his six high priest, the Kul Elna massacre, until the day when the thief king disappeared from their sight in the Kul Elna village ruins.

"Is that true?" Jouno looked at Bakura in disbelief.

"Yeah... The pharaoh, that guy and the other rotten priest sacrificed the entire village just to create the cursed millennium items for themselves which they believe to protect the whole country from evil!" Bakura glared at the high priest with hatred.

Then Bakura started to laugh loudly, making the room fill with his scary laughter. Jouno, the high priest, the twins, the palace guards, and even the men in black robes were getting goosebumps by it. He kept laughing and laughing until he was calmed down.

"Bakura..." Jouno tried to talk to him.

"Ha ha... What an irony, they took a lot of innocent people's lives and hid their blood-stained hand in the name of justice." Bakura chuckled at the high priest.

Bakura looked at every people that inside the room then he noticed the twins. He quickly grabbed Khairo's arm from one of the men in black robes and dragged the little boy with him, making Khairo whimpered in pain.

"Khairo!" Khana cried out her twin brother's name.

"So back to our business, Jouno... Which one do you consider yourself or the twins?" Bakura asked her.

"I-I..." Before Jouno finished her sentences, the high priest interrupted her.

"Jouno, don't listen to him." He told Jouno.

"I'm not asking you mister priest, so you better shut up or I'll rip your mouth!" Bakura kicked right on the high priest's face.

"Master!" Jouno screamed in panic.

"Hmpf, it was nothing." The high priest spitted the blood that came out from his mouth.

"Hoo, I see... So what about this?" Bakura stepped on the high priest's stomach.

"Uugh!" He tried to endure the pain.

"Ha ha ha... How long will you last, mister priest?" Bakura increased the pressure of the stomp.

"Please stop this!" Jouno shouted at Bakura.

Bakura paused for a moment then he smirked at her.

"It seems that the choice is rather difficult for you to choose, then I'll change it a little bit; the lives of these three or you? I bet you know the answer, right?" Bakura chuckled evilly.

"Big sister Jouno..." Khairo whispered worriedly.

"You bastard..." The high priest panted heavily.

"What a persistent guy..." Bakura kept stomping on the high priest's stomach.

"Aaargh!" This time the high priest screamed in pain.

Everybody waited for Jouno to give her answer.

"Come on, the time is running out... And you're their only hope." Bakura provoked her.

Jouno had made up her mind, but when she about to spoke someone quickly entered the room.

"Bakura! Stop all this childish nonsense!"

Bakura's eyes widened, he didn't believe what he saw.

_How did that person managed to find out this place?_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

**( /-** v **-)/ ~ OMAKE ~ \(-** v **- \)**

Jouno had made up her mind, but when she about to spoke someone quickly entered the room.

Bakura's mom : *opened the door* "Bakura! Stop all this childish nonsense!"

Bakura : "But mom, we just about to get into the fun..." *still stepping on Seth and grabbing Khairo*

Bakura's mom : "I don't want to hear any excuse from you, now you have to come with me!" *grab Bakura's arm and dragged him outside the room*

Bakura : "Huaa, I'm sorry moom...!" *His voice echoing from outside and slowly disappeared*

All : "..." *speechless*

The End (?)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	9. Chapter 9 : Rescue

The pharaoh and his high priest come to rescue them from Bakura, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 9: Rescue ~**

The Thief King Bakura forced Jouno to choose between her freedom and the lives of people she cared about. When Jouno intended to answer his offer, someone rushed inside the room and stopped her. Bakura eyes widened then he chuckled evilly.

"Heh heh... I never thought that you will find my place this quick, pharaoh." Bakura looked at the pharaoh and his high priest stood at the room entrance.

"It seems we made it in time." Shada relieved.

"I was informed by a palace guard that High Priest Seth ordered him to tell me everything about the journey and followed your traces." The pharaoh looked at Seth.

"Hmpf, I already noticed something wrong when you volunteered to be our guide to the hideout. When you were talking with Jouno I used that chance to called one of the palace guards to go back to the palace and report to the pharaoh." Seth smirked at him.

"Heh heh... You really are clever as usual mister priest, but right now your live is in my hand." Bakura kicked him again in his chest.

"Uagh!" Seth groaned in pain.

"Seth!" The other high priests cried out his name.

"I said stop it!" The pharaoh shouted at Bakura.

"If not, what are you going to do pharaoh?" Bakura grinned at him.

"I'll make sure this place going to be your grave!" The pharaoh clenched his fist.

"Heh heh... Interesting, but unfortunately no matter how hard you tried you won't be able to kill me." Bakura chuckled at him.

"You seem really confident about it." The pharaoh glared at him.

"Why don't you give it a shot then?" Bakura challenged him.

"What is his plan now?" The high priests looked at him suspiciously.

"...Are you going to use that boy as a shield?" The pharaoh pointed at Khairo.

"Oh yeah, I'm forgot about him." Bakura threw Khairo away from his grip.

"Akh!" His body slammed to the ground, and then the men in black robes quickly dragged him away with them.

"Khairo! Let me go..." Khana struggled from the men in black robes' grip.

"I don't need him as well." Bakura kicked Seth away from him.

"Master!" Jouno quickly rushed towards Seth, she wanted to help him out but both of their hands were tied.

"Don't worry about me... Cough!" Seth tried to get up from the ground.

"Are you alright?" Isis and Kalim approached them and untied their hands.

"Thank you." Jouno bowed at the high priests.

"You welcome." Isis smiled at her.

"Now, give it a shot pharaoh." Bakura spread both of his hands.

"You'll regret it." The pharaoh summoned his loyal servant, Mahaado the Black Magician.

"Mahaado, use spellbinding!" The pharaoh ordered him.

The black magician casted a spell then a magic circle appeared and locked Bakura's body.

"This will prevent you from escaping." The pharaoh pointed at Bakura.

"You're only wasting your time." Bakura smirked at him.

"We'll see about that." The pharaoh gave a command for his servant to attack the thief king.

"Black magic!" A ray of light came out from the magician's wand and hit Bakura directly.

The magic attack created a very thick smoke, making it really hard for them to see the results.

_Did it hit him?_ They tried to search for his body.

"I already said that it's useless." They quickly searched for the source of that voice.

Bakura appeared from behind them before he disappeared again from their sight.

"Is he using Diabound to hide himself?" They became wary for his sudden appearance.

"Mana, try to detect his presence." The pharaoh ordered the millennium ring wielder.

"Okay." She nodded then she closed her eyes, concentrating at the millennium ring.

_Why I couldn't feel his presence? He doesn't use a millennium item right?_ Mana tried harder with increasing her heka power, but the millennium ring still didn't give the sign of the thief king.

Mana kept concentrating on the millennium ring, but she didn't realize Bakura appeared behind her.

"Watch out!" The pharaoh warned Mana, but it was too late. When Mana looked back, Bakura knocked her out just with one hit.

"Is that all what you got pharaoh? Don't disappoint me..." Bakura smirked at him before he disappeared again.

"You can't use the same trick on me twice, Bakura!" The pharaoh ordered Mahaado to attacked the ceiling so the sunlight could help them revealing Diabound's true form.

The ceiling was completely gone, but there was no sign of him or his spirit beast.

_What?_ They didn't believe what they saw.

"Heh heh... The same thing goes to you pharaoh." They could hear Bakura's creepy laughter.

_That's really odd... The millennium item can't detect him even though he doesn't possess one, and Diabound__was supposed to reveal__itself when it exposed to light... Wait, don't say that..._ The pharaoh eyes widened then he smiled.

"Bakura, I think I know your secret." The pharaoh spoke to him.

"What is it? I'd really like to hear about it... Heh heh." They could hear Bakura's chuckle.

"When the last time we saw you in the Kul Elna village you were dying and you used all of your strength to put the millennium items, after that you suddenly disappeared without a trace... Are you still alive after that?" The pharaoh asked him.

_Did that mean The Thief King Bakura had already died?_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

I can't use "The high priest" for Seth since all the high priest are gathering in this chapter, so I have to let someone spill his name out. (- v -")

Thank you very much for the reviews~! *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	10. Chapter 10 : Return

Jouno couldn't accept the fact that Bakura's dead, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 10: Return ~**

The pharaoh could tell there was something odd with the thief king's new ability and all the proof lead him to the only possibility; The Thief King Bakura actually had died during the fight in Kul Elna village. When the pharaoh told Bakura about the result of his thought, the entire room became silence. After a few moments later, everyone could hear the thief king loud laughter.

_Why is he laughing? _The high priests tried to searchfor the source of the voice.

"Ha ha ha! You really are something pharaoh, to be able to find it out just in a short amount of time." Bakura showed himself to the pharaoh and his high priests.

"There he is." The high priests moved forward to cover the pharaoh from the thief king.

_Bakura's... Dead?_ Jouno couldn't believe what she just heard.

"Hmpf, so that's why the millennium items couldn't detect his presence." Seth smirked.

"No, that's a lie... He's not dead yet." Jouno stood up from the ground.

"Jouno? What are you doing?" Seth asked her.

"I'm sure that he's still alive, I can feel it deep inside my heart." Jouno looked at Bakura.

_Does that girl havesomething to do with the thief?_ Everybody stared at her in wonder.

"I remember when he let me sleep on his chest, I could feel his breath, I could hear his heartbeat, and I... I could feel the warmth of his body..." The tears started to came out from her eyes.

"Jouno..." Bakura whispered silently.

"Please let me know the truth, I beg you... Please tell me everything..." Jouno wiped away her tears from her cheeks.

All the people inside the room froze in silence; they didn't know what to do nor how to react in this situation.

"...I guess it's time for me to take my leave." The thief king broke the silence then the men in black robe released the twins from their grip and gathered around him.

"Don't let him escape!" The pharaoh ordered the palace guards and the high priests to prevent Bakura.

"Heh heh... So long, suckers!" Bakura chuckled as he and his underlings started to fade away.

The thief king and Jouno's eyes were met each other just before he completely disappeared from her sight.

"Tsk, he's escaping again..." Kalim expressed his disappointment.

"Now what we're going to do pharaoh?" Shada asked the pharaoh.

"Let's head back to the palace, I'm sure that everybody is worried about us." The pharaoh replied him.

"How about those three?" Ammon pointed at Jouno and the twins.

"Cousin, that girl is my responsibility and the twins are her only family. Then it implies that they are also my responsibility." Seth told the pharaoh.

"We are going to talk about it when we already reached the palace." The pharaoh led the way out of the hideout.

The pharaoh's group took the shortcut so they could get back to the palace just in a few hours. The pharaoh and the high priests gathered in the throne room while Jouno and the twins were taken to her room.

"If you need something please don't hesitate to call us." The servants bowed then left Jouno and the twins alone.

"Yes, thank you very much." Jouno nodded at them before she closed the door.

"Whoa, this room is so much bigger than our house!" Khairo looked around the room, followed by his sister.

"Big sister Jouno, is this your room?" Khana asked her.

"Umm, yeah... My master told me that this is my room from now on." Jouno smiled at her.

"Master? Do you mean the tall guy with tall headdress?" Khairo used his hand to create the imaginary headdress.

"That's right; he's one of the six high priests that directly serves the pharaoh." Jouno explained them.

"Woow... Tell us more about him!" The twins' eyes were sparkled in enthusiasm.

"Ha ha... Okay slow down you two." Jouno patted their heads.

Jouno told them the story about her first meeting with Seth and how she ended up as his servant. Meanwhile in the throne room, Seth tried to convince the pharaoh and the other high priests about Jouno and the twins.

"I guess you got the right point." Shada agreed with Seth.

"Well then, have you thought about it cousin?" Seth asked the pharaoh.

"What are you going to do with them if I gave you the permission?" The pharaoh asked him back.

"I only want to repay her kindness towards our guards." Seth told his cousin.

"How about the twins then?" Kalim asked Seth.

"I've told you before that the twins are her only remained family. Do you want to separate them?" Seth asked Kalim back.

"That's not what I mean... Fine, I get it." Kalim sighed.

"Maybe you should give him a chance." Isis told the pharaoh.

"Very well. But if there's something happen to them, you're the one in charge." The pharaoh nodded at his cousin.

"Thank you pharaoh, now I'm going to take my leave." Seth bowed down at him before he left the throne room.

"Do you think is it alright to leave them in his hand?" Kalim asked the pharaoh.

"I still don't know about it. Let's just give him a chance and wait for the progress." The pharaoh answered him.

Seth walked away from the pharaoh and the other high priest. He headed to the room where Jouno and the twins were and opened the door slowly. The twins were fast asleep while Jouno sat beside them. Jouno realized her master's arrival and she quickly stood up from the bed.

"Master Seth..." Jouno looked at him.

"How did you find out my name?" Seth asked her.

"Umm, the pharaoh said your name when he came to rescue us from... that incident." Jouno didn't want to remember that thing for that time.

"Just call me with my name then." He folded his arms.

"B-but master..." Before Jouno finished her words, Seth interrupted her.

"I told you just call me 'Seth', that's an order." Seth told her.

"...Seth?" Jouno spoke awkwardly.

"Yeah, just like that..." Seth smiled at her.

"It's still feels awkward." Jouno turned away from his gaze.

"You'll get used to it." Seth stroked her hair gently while following her eye direction.

Jouno and Seth didn't notice that the twins were pretending to be asleep, Both of them peeked at them silently as they smiled at each other and went back to sleep.

- To Be Continued -

* * *

I'm sorry for the late update (It's the same reason as in the previous chapters) (TT ^ TT)

Maybe I couldn't update till next week... (X _ X)

Thank you for your tolerance~! *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	11. Chapter 11 : Friendship Statement

The pharaoh and Jouno revealing their memory of the pasts, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 11: Friendship Statement ~**

Bakura and the men in black robes have disappeared from the pharaoh and his group's sight, leaving the twins as the evidence of the thief king's appearance. When they got back to the palace Seth asked the pharaoh to let him became the caretaker for Jouno and the twins. Even though the other high priests were unsure about it, the pharaoh granted his wish. Now it was almost a year since the incident occurred.

The sky was clear and sun shone brightly, it was a perfect day to had outdoor activities. Seth taught Khairo how to ride a horse while Jouno and Khana sat on the wooden bench, watching them from a distance.

"Just relax, keep your body position like that." Seth held the horse rein.

"Y-yeah..." The horse walked slowly, so it was easier for Khairo to maintain his balance.

"Good, Good..." Seth stroked the horse mane.

"I guess I'm starting to get used to it." Khairo smiled gladly.

"Try to take it around this field." Seth released the horse rein after he gave it to Khairo.

"Thank you very much my lord." Khairo brought the horse away with him.

The high priest watched the boy as he went away from him. When he sure that Khairo could handle it well enough, Seth walked approached the seating girls.

"Here you go." Jouno stood up and offered him a jar of water.

"Thank you." Seth received it and drank the water directly from the jar.

"My lord, how is my twin brother?" Khana asked him.

"I guess he's good enough for a first timer." Seth put the water jar on the bench.

"Can I try it too?" Khana's eyes sparkled in enthusiasm.

"I'm sorry Khana, but only men were allowed to ride horse." Seth shook his head.

"But we're twins... We are supposed to have the same ability." Khana pouted.

"Even though both of you are twins, man and woman have different jobs and responsibilities. Just assume that one egg is represent one family. Man is the eggshell, his role is protecting his family from the outside world ..." Seth was lecturing her.

"...And woman is the egg yolk. I already know about that..." Khana sighed.

Jouno could understand Khana's feeling so she tried to convince the high priest about it.

"Seth, I know that this is quite hard... But could you please give her at least one chance to experience the horse riding?" She whispered at him gently.

"Hmpf, if that's what you want... Just this once." Seth agreed after he thought carefully.

"Thank you... I know that I could rely on you." Jouno smiled at him.

"I only do this because you ask me to." Seth turned his face.

"So that means I can ride a horse? Thank you my lord, thank you big sister Jouno!" Khana hugged them.

"Ha ha... You welcome my dear." Jouno patted her head.

"Let's go to the stable so you can choose the horse you want to ride." Seth walked away from Jouno, followed by Khana.

"Have fun!" Jouno waved her hand at them.

"Yeah I will!" Khana waved her hand back at Jouno.

_Now they look like real sisters..._ Seth thought to himself as he led the way to the stable.

Jouno sat down on the bench and took out something from her pocket; an old bandage with dried blood stain. She stared at it for quite a long time, that bandage reminded her about the boy that saved her from his own people and helped her to escape. Her life saviour who was also her first friend. They had parted for years and then the faith reunited them, but once again they were separated by the situation they faced.

_Whydo we have to end__up like this?_ Jouno looked up, tryingnot to spill any tears on her face. _No, you shouldn't cry Jouno...Don't make them worry about you..._ Jouno shook her head.

"Is there something wrong?" The voice from behind got her back to her senses.

"P-Pharaoh?" Jouno jolted from her seat.

"Did my presence disturb you?" The pharaoh asked her.

"Ah... No, no at all. P-please have a seat..." Jouno patted on the bench.

Both of them sat down on the bench quietly, Jouno felt really awkward because this is the first time she directly had a conversation with the pharaoh.

"...Jouno, I want to ask you something." The pharaoh finally broke the silence between them.

"What is it, my lord?" Jouno replied him.

"What is your relationship with the thief king?" The pharaoh's question made her eyes widened.

"I keep thinking about it when I saw his reaction towards you. He looks like a different person; his eyes became very gentle but also full of sadness, so I thought that you've met him before... And I believe that it's not just an ordinary meeting." The pharaoh looked at her in wonder.

Jouno bowed down her head, trying not make eye contact with the pharaoh. She was confused whether she had to tell him everything or not. After considering the choices in her mind for quite a long time, Jouno finally decided to believe the pharaoh and told the whole story to him.

"Hmm... I never imagine that he is that kind of person." The pharaoh nodded.

"Why is that my lord?" Jouno looked at the pharaoh.

"I met the whole opposite of what you've told me about him..." The pharaoh started to tell Jouno the story of his encounter with the thief king; from their first meeting where Bakura got inside the throne room and challenged him and his high priests until the last time he saw him in the Kul Elna village ruin.

"...That wasn't him; I know he wouldn't do such a thing." Jouno grabbed the pharaoh's clothes.

"Yeah, that's not the real him... He was used by the evil spirit that appeared from the millennium items." The pharaoh looked at her.

"Evil spirit?" Jouno relieved that the pharaoh agreed with her, but she still confused with his statement.

"The evil spirit called Zorc Necrophades... Not only did he use Bakura as his pawn, he also managed to influence The Former High Priest Akhenaden; the first owner of millennium eye that was also my uncle to defeat The Sacred Guardians in order to make his son become the next pharaoh." The pharaoh continued his story.

"How could people with the same blood betray you, my lord?" Jouno couldn't believe what she had heard.

"Everyone can do something beyond their own sense to satisfy their thirst for power... Even if they have to kill each other for that." The pharaoh held the millennium pendant.

Jouno became speechless, she felt really sorry for the pharaoh but she didn't know what she should say to him.

"...Don't worry about it Jouno, I still have loyal people around me... That's includes you." The pharaoh looked at her.

"Me?" Jouno pointed at herself.

"Yes, Jouno... You." The pharaoh nodded.

"B-but I don't deserve such an honour... I'm only a servant." Jouno waved her hand.

"Not anymore, because from now on I want you to be my friend." The pharaoh patted her shoulder.

"My lord's friend?" Jouno eyes widened.

"Atem... Call me Atem." He pointed at himself.

"Atem?..." Jouno whispered awkwardly.

"That's right..." He smiled at her.

Atem and Jouno were too busy with their conversation so they even didn't realize that someone had watched them all the time...

- To Be Continued -

* * *

I'm really sorry for taking a long time to update this fic... (TT _ TT)

Hopefully this chapter could redeem my lateness (- v -)

Thank you so much for waiting~! *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	12. Chapter 12 : Brotherly Discussion

Seth wanted to talk about something important with Atem, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 12: Brotherly Discussion ~**

After having a friendly conversation with Jouno, Atem decided to head back to his room inside the main palace. He opened up the wooden chest beside his bed and took three scrolls which contain some notable documents and reports from the local governments below his authority that he had to work on. He kept reading it until the sun went down, making the letter harder to read. When he wanted to looked for an oil lamp, someone put it on his wooden desk.

"That's just right on time, thank you cousin." Atem looked at Seth.

"It's an honour to be able to fulfil you every need." Seth bowed at him.

"Please have a seat." Atem offered the chair near him.

Seth took the wooden chair and sat beside his cousin.

"So what are you doing cousin?" Seth asked him.

"I'm just checking the frequent reports from the local governments." Atem kept reading the scroll.

"I see..." Seth folded his arm, watched as his cousin being busy with his job.

They were in awkward silence because of the uncommon situation between them.

"Do you need any help?" Seth tried to make a conversation.

"Yes, please check this document." Atem gave him two document scrolls.

"Alright..." Seth took the scroll from Atem's hand.

The silence overwhelmed the surrounding again as they were busy with their own work. After spent an hour, they finally managed to check all the documents.

"That's really helpful." Atem stretched his arm.

"Hmpf, this is a really simple task." Seth rolled back the scroll.

"Something has been bothering you?" Atem asked him.

"It's nothing... Why are you asking that?" Seth asked him back.

"That because it's unusual to see you around my place at this time." Atem stared at him. This time Seth didn't speak a single word.

"Do you mind if I want to know about it?" Atem smirked at him.

"...Fine, but don't tell anyone about it." Seth sighed.

"Yeah, I won't." Atem said firmly.

"I have thinking about these two things for quite a long time, so I have to make sure that everything goes according to my decision. First, I want to adopt the twins." Seth explained to Atem.

"...Cousin, I'm sure that you know about the law of adoption." Atem stared at him.

"Off course I do. Adoption is only for those who are married but unable to have children by their own." Seth rolled his eyes.

"Then why did you insist on adopting them? You aren't married yet and we don't know whether you can have your own children or not." Atem couldn't understand what's on his cousin's mind.

"Does that mean you doubting my fertility?" Seth lifted an eyebrow; he didn't believe that his cousin would ask such a thing.

"That's not the problem! The thing is; how could you be able to adopt them if you're unmarried?" Atem put his hand on his face.

"Don't worry about that, I've found a way to solve it." Seth grinned at him.

"What are you going to do with it?" Atem felt suspicious with Seth's grin.

"I'm going to resolve it with my second plan; I will take the black dragon girl as my wife." His smile widened as he managed to say it to his cousin.

"You're going to marry Jouno?" Atem clarified Seth's words to make sure he didn't mishear it.

"Correct. With that all problems will be solved." Seth folded his arm.

"You already know that Siamun won't let the marriage between royal lineage and commoner. He's really a strict old man and convincing him is going to be a really tough job." Atem sighed.

"That's why I need you as my spokesman. He'll listen to you rather than me or anyone else in this palace." Seth tried to persuade him.

"So basically you want me to act as bait for him?" Atem glared at Seth.

"Hmpf, of course I won't let you do all the things alone. Just relax and leave the rest to me." Seth seemed really confident about his plan.

"...Alright then, I'll arrange the meeting with him and the other sacred guardians. Just do what you need to do..." Atem said.

"I know that I could count on you, cousin." Seth smiled to him as he stood up from the chair and left the pharaoh sat alone in his room.

- To Be Continued -

* * *

For this chapter update lateness, it's entirely my fault because this is one of the most frustating chapter I've ever type... (TT _ TT) *moment of truth*

I kept reread and rewrite this chapter because it's really hard to imagine Seth and Atem talk to each other nicely * not to mention their pride towards each other* (- _ -")

I hope that they're not too OOC in here... I won't angry nor disappointed if you want to tell me your opinion (' v ')o

So please give me the review about it, thank you very much~! *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	13. Chapter 13 : Imagination

The twins tell Jouno to get ready without saying the real purpose, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 13: Imagination ~**

Seth finally managed to convince his cousin for help him out by holding a meeting with the pharaoh's advisor and the other sacred guardians to discuss about the marriage, but he knew that his job wasn't done yet so he wanted to run his other plan. Meanwhile Jouno stood beside the window while looking at the full moon that illuminated her room, making it bright even without using any oil lamp as the light source.

She laid herself down on the comfy bed as she mused about her life; from the day she was taken away from her family due to poverty, saved by the group of thieves from Kul Elna village, the meeting with Bakura and his friends, parted with Bakura after he help her out from the village until the day she was captured by the palace guards because of stealing fruits from the market for the twins, brought to the throne room, taken by the High Priest Seth as his servant, walked together with the high priest's group to look for the twins, reunited and separated again with Bakura, and now the pharaoh considered her as his friend.

_Everything happened so fast and really unpredictable, I never know what would happen to me in the next second... _Jouno talked to herself. She started to feel sleepy as she slowly closed her eyes then blinked them to woke her up, but her drowsiness dominatingher until she really fell asleep.

When she woke up, she could felt the sun radiance that brightened her surrounding in place of the moon.

"It's morning already?" Jouno whispered slowly to herself.

She straightened her body and then she realized something.

_Huh? My sleeping position has changed..._ Jouno sure that she didn't put her head on the headrest.

"That's weird..." She scratched her head in confusion.

Jouno tried to figure out what happened to her while she was sleeping when she heard the sound of the door knocked from the outside.

"Please come in." Jouno walked towards the door and opened it.

"Good morning Big Sister Jouno!" The twins hugged her as they entered the room.

"Good morning too, you guys look really happy today." Jouno smiled because of their energetic behaviour.

"Of course we do! That's because of Mar...Mmpf!" Khana stopped her twin brother before he managed to finish the whole sentences.

"Because of...?" Jouno raised her eyebrow.

"T-that's because of M...Morning! Yeah, the morning day!" Khana smiled awkwardly.

"...Are both of you hiding something from me?" Jouno stared at them suspiciously.

"N-no... We aren't hiding anything." They shook their head.

"Are you sure?" Jouno put her hands on her hips.

"Yes..." They nodded.

"Alright, alright... I believe in you." Jouno patted their head.

_Phew... That was close..._ They looked at each other in relief.

"So, what do you want to do right now?" Jouno smiled at them.

"Umm... You see, we're come here to tell you something from master." Khana rolled her eyes away from Jouno's.

"From Seth?" Jouno narrowed her eyes.

"Yeah, he said that... You have to dress up for something important tonight." This time Khairo tried to be more careful with his words.

"The other ladies are waiting outside to help you in preparing yourself." Khana pointed at the door.

"Alright then, I think we should go now... Right sis?" Khairo smiled at his twin.

"Y-yes... We're going now, good bye Big sister Jouno!" They waved their hands as went outside of the room as fast as they could.

"Goodbye..." Jouno waved back at them in confusion.

_Something important from Seth?_ Jouno started to imagine the situations that she would possibly face tonight.

Jouno's Imagination :

"The twins said that you want to talk something important with me..."

"Yes, that right. Please have a seat."

"...So, what do you want to say?"

"Jouno, I want to tell you this for quite a long time... But I guess this is the right time to do it."

"Umm, yes?"

"Please listen carefully because I won't repeat it for the second time..."

"Y-yeah.."

"I'm going to give you a very special task that only you could do it; at midnight go to the pharaoh's room and speak to him. When he was unguarded, stab him with this poisonous dagger."

"What? You want me to kill the pharaoh?"

"Exactly, you have to be careful not to let anyone else know about this."

"...B-but, he already trusts me as his friend."

"That's the reason I choose you to do this. He won't suspect it if it's you."

"Why you did this to him? Isn't he your younger cousin?"

"Everyone can do something beyond their own sense to satisfy their thirst for power... Even if they have to kill each other for that."

"I won't do such a thing; even my decision would cost my own life!"

"Unfortunately that's not the expected answer... How about the life of the twins?"

"Y-you..."

"I'm counting on you, Jouno..."

- End of Imagination -

_No, No, No! T-that's not going to happen... I believe Seth; he__won't do such a thing to his own cousin!_ Jouno walked around her room in frustration.

"Hhh... I guess it's better to getting ready to face it than thinking about something stupid like that..." She sighed heavily then she left her room.

_What exactly is he up to?_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

Lately I couldn't update the fic one per day just like before... *sigh*

The reasons still around the internet connection, the stucked ideas, etc... (TT _ TT)

I want to apologize to everyone for that... *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	14. Chapter 14 : Proposal Plan

Seth makes sure that everything goes according to his plan, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 14: Proposal Plan ~**

The twins left Jouno alone in her room after they told her the message from Seth without the true reason behind, making her imagine some nonsense about it. Meanwhile, Seth went to the goldsmith studio accompanied with two of the palace guards once he managed to make everyone in the meeting room finally agreed with his decision.

"We've been expecting your arrival, my lord." The goldsmith chief bowed down at him.

"Have you completed my order?" Seth looked at him.

"Yes, we just finished it last night." He nodded.

"Show it to me." Seth kept staring at him.

"Please this way." The goldsmith chief led the way to his workstation.

They walked further inside until they reached the end of the room. There was a dragon-shaped necklace made of silver and black garnet hanging on the wall. The engravings on it were highly detailed, making it look so real. The goldsmiths didn't forget to put two small rubies on the dragon's eyes.

"We hope that our modest work would meet your expectation." He picked the necklace from the hanger and showed it to Seth.

"That's beyond my expectation, you and your men did a good job." Seth took the necklace from his hand and looked at it closely.

"That's really an honour, my lord." He nodded happily.

_What face she would make if she seesthis?_ Seth smiled as he kept staring at the necklace.

In the afternoon, Jouno went to her room right after she was done dressing up. She sat on the chair while looked out the window, waiting for Seth to come and tell her what the important thing is. She felt really anxious but also curious about it, she couldn't stop moving her fingers.

_Seth is really an unpredictable guy, nobody could guess what's on his mind..._ Jouno sighed heavily then she tried to think of some other possibilities.

"Hmm..." She mumbled softly as she thought about something that might happen later.

_Maybe he just wantsto introduce me to someone important... that's why I should dress up like this._ Jouno nodded.

_...But what if the murder plan is true? OhRa please don't let it happen!_ She started to worry again.

_Or perhaps... He wantsto propose me?_ Her face turned red as she imagined it.

"W-what am I thinking?" Jouno got embarrassed by her own thought.

_No, that's not going to happen! He only considersme as his servant, how could I thinkabout something like that?_ She shook her head sadly.

"Stop dreaming, Jouno... Don't be stupid daydreamer and just face the fact..." Jouno pinched her own cheek.

_...But is it okay to have a little bit of hope?_ She leaned on the window as her mind wandered to a very far place.

On the other side of the palace, Seth went into his room to prepare all the best of him for the opportunity of the lifetime. He really didn't want to miss that one chance or else not only couldn't he remove the guilty feeling towards Kisara's death but also he might loss the important people around him. He wouldn't let it happen.

Seth put the millennium rod inside the wooden box on the table beside his bed then he walked to his private bath. He took off his clothes and stepped into the bathtub that already filled with water. The water coolness released all of the tension in his mind and made him more relaxed.

It didn't take him so long to take a bath. He got out of the bathtub, dried himself up with towel, and quickly wore his clothes and headdress. He took the necklace, stared at it before he kept it in his pocket, making him almost forgot to bring the millennium rod with him. When opened the wooden box, the millennium rod was disappeared.

_What? How could that possible? There's no way I could forget where I've put it, or perhaps... Don't say that-!_ Seth quickly left his room as fast as he could.

Meanwhile, Jouno tried to calm herself down as the skies became darker. She felt really nervous but also very curious about it in the same time. She didn't know what kind of expression she should make when Seth came to her.

Suddenly the door opened from outside, made her awake from her reverie.

"S-Se-" Jouno spoke nervously as she looked at her back, but she suddenly stopped.

"Did I look that scary? Or maybe you're waiting for someone else?" He slowly walked approach her.

"H-how did you get here?..." She was trembled in fear.

"To be able to enter this palace without being noticed is easy as child's play, even I could take this as the bonus." He showed the millennium rod from his cloak.

"What did you do to him?" Jouno gritted her teeth.

"You do seem like him a lot, don't you? Don't worry, I haven't done anything to him..." He quickly caught her arm before she managed to move and pinned her to the wall.

"...But instead I'm going to make you do it." He whispered softly in her ear.

_Please help me, Seth!_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

I really like to search some informations for the fic I wrote, even thou I wouldn't used all of them... (- v -")

At least it could give me additional knowledge; like there was no wedding ceremony in the ancient egypt and silver was more precious than gold (O w O)

I hope you like it~! *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	15. Chapter 15 : Hurt

Seth's pride is tore down by Bakura... enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 15: Hurt ~**

Seth was really upset towards himself for being careless and let his guard down. He was sure that he knew the person behind this and what was he after, so he quickly went out of his room. The guards were confused seeing the high priest didn't act like himself.

"Is there something wrong my lord?" One of the guards dared himself to ask him.

"Something wrong you ask? Someone had sneaked into my room and took the millennium rod with him! What did you do so far as the palace guard?" Seth clenched his fist in anger.

"W-we're terribly sorry my lord... We didn't see anyone walk around this place." They were trembled in fear and guilty.

"Hmpf, It's too late for apologizes now. Gather all your men and search for him in every place in this palace, even in the most unreachable one. That's the only one way to obtain the mercy." Seth walked away from them as he finished his sentences.

"Yes, my lord." They bowed down then rushed to the barrack.

_I won't forgive him if he daresto do something to her!_ Seth kept running as fast as he could till he reached Jouno's room.

He opened the door slowly to anticipate for an ambush or the sudden attack and he didn't walk into the room before he confirmed that everything was fine. Seth felt relieved when he saw Jouno was alright; she sat on the chair while looking outside the window. She seemed very calm; even she didn't realize his arrival.

"Jouno..." He approached her and pulled her to his embrace.

"Thank goodness you're alright..." Seth stroked her hair gently as he tightened his arm.

"S-Se..." Jouno whispered quietly, her eyes started to teary.

"Hmm? What's wrong-" Before he managed to finished his words, he felt something sharp went through the clothes and tore his back. He groaned in pain as it pulled out of him and the blood came out from the wound.

"Jouno?" Seth couldn't believe what she had done to him. His body collapsed and he curled up in pain, trying not to lose his consciousness.

Jouno remained motionless with a dagger that was covered in blood in her right hand. Her body stood stiffly, as if she was a living doll that controlled by strings.

"S-Se..." She put all of her effort to speak; her tears fell down upon his face.

"Ughh..." Seth looked up as he tried to get up from the ground, but the severe injury on his back made him unable to stand up.

Suddenly someone appeared from the window. The moonlight created the shadow that made his face hard to see, however Seth could recognize him just with the silhouette.

"I know that you're the person behind this, Bakura!" Seth gritted his teeth, tried to endure the pain on his back.

"It's really sad, isn't it? Betrayed by someone you trust, you care, you love..." Bakura smirked as he walked towards Jouno.

"Stay away from her!" Seth yelled at the thief king furiously.

"...Or what? Just be thankful I didn't have any desire to kill you, pathetic priest." Bakura put his arm around Jouno and leaned her on his chest.

"I'd rather die than left to live by people like you..." Seth used all of his might to let his voice out.

"I already said that I didn't have any desire to kill some weakling like you. Let the faith decide whether you deserve to survive with that wound or not." Bakura covered himself and Jouno with his cloak before they disappeared from his sight.

"...Damn it." Seth whispered in disappointment as the blood kept flowing out of his body, made his consciousness started to fade.

_I'm sorry, Jouno..._

* * *

For so many times both of my lecturers on Wednesday course didn't come to the class and luckily I haven't go to the campus yet... At least I could use the wasted time for updating this fic (LOL)

In exchange, there will be replacement classes on Saturday...! (O - O)!

Thank you for reading and please keep supporting this fic~! *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	16. Chapter 16 : Decision

What they're going to do after the incident... enjoy ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 16: Decision ~**

Bakura sneaked into the palace to control Jouno's mind with the power of millennium rod that he stole from Seth when it was left unguarded. He even made her stabbed her own master with a dagger before the thief king took her away from the high priest, leaving him badly injured. Before he completely lost his consciousness, he heard the sound of people shouting for his name.

_Seth! My lord! High Priest!_ All the names that referred to him, slowly disappear as his sight turned darker until it became pitch black.

_Where am I?_ He looked around the place he stood. This place looked like the village where he was used to live before it burned down by the bandits. Every person there didn't realize his presence; they kept doing their own daily activities.

_This place looks exactly the same as my childhood's..._ Seth walked slowly in the middle of the crowd, then he stopped as he saw the white-haired girl with pale skin and blue eyes stood in front of him.

_Kisara!_ When he tried to approach her, he felt something hold his clothes; stopped him from getting near her. He turned around and saw the red-eyed girl with blonde hair.

_Jouno..._ Suddenly the vision of that night when the thief king took her away from him crossed his mind and awakened him.

"Ughh..." Seth groaned silently as he opened his eyes. He still needed to adjust his eyesight with the sunlight that illuminates his surroundings.

"...So I'm still alive." He whispered to himself when he looked around, then he tried to endure the pain on his back while getting up from the bed and dragged himself out of the room.

Some servants were busy talking to each other as they cleaned up the palace corridor, suddenly stopped their work when they saw their master struggling in pain.

"My lord, you need to rest some more before you're completely healed." Some servants helped him to stand up while the other quickly ran to inform the pharaoh and the sacred guardians about his condition.

"I already wasted so much time in the bed... I have to make a move before it's too late." Seth shook his head in disappointment.

"But your wound isn't recovering yet my lord..." The servants tried to persuade him.

"This wound is nothing compared to her life! Right now she's in danger and I do nothing but wait?" He became furious; not because of them, but by his own weakness and lack of power.

"My lord..." They looked at each other in confusion; they didn't know what else to do.

"Seth, you're awake!" Atem, the twins, and the other high priests quickly approached him.

"Thank goodness, we're so afraid if something bad happened to you." Mana sighed in relief.

"You really good at scaring us to death..." Isis shook her head.

Seth knelt down in front of the pharaoh, even though he knew that his wound might be opened.

"Cousin, let me go save her. I will rescue her from that thief and bring her back even if you refuse." Seth stared at him tensely.

"What would you do to set her free from him? The millennium rod is now in his hand and you're badly injured." Khalim raised one of his eyebrows.

"As if I care about that kind of nonsense... I'm going to bring her back even if I have to pay it with my own life." Seth put his right hand on his left chest.

"The pain that came from the wound on your back has affected the way you think, right now you're not being yourself that I used to know." Shada folded his arm.

"Hmpf. If you know me that well, then you should know the reason why I do this." Seth glared at him.

"...Let's have a vote. There're nine people in here; so you have to gain at least five votes to pass, or else you have to wait until you're fully recovered." Atem knew that he had to do something quick before the situation got worse and that's the conclusion he could think of.

"Alright then, count me as one vote." Seth spoke to his cousin confidently.

"I wouldn't let you go in that condition." Shada remained on his stance.

"That's just too reckless to go now, I refuse." Kalim shook his head.

"I'm agree with Shada and Kalim, beside we don't know where are they right now." Ammon gave him an excuse.

"I want to save Jouno too, I really like her!" Mana raised her hand enthusiastically.

"That's makes it two, what about you Isis?" Atem turned to her.

"...I'm truly sorry Seth, I like Jouno too but your safety is our priority right now." Isis told him heavily.

"It's alright..." Seth was disappointed with her decision, but he tried to appreciate her goodwill.

"Don't worry my lord, no matter what happens we are going to save Big Sister Jouno together." Khana tried to comfort him.

"Yeah, she has done so many things for us and now this is our chance to repay her." Khairo agreed with his twin.

"Thank you Khairo, Khana..." Seth patted their head gently.

"Now the pros and cons have the same numbers, but we haven't heard your voice yet." The high priest turned to the pharaoh.

"To be honest, I don't want to put you in danger, but Jouno is also important for me... So I will accompany you to rescue her." Atem smiled at his cousin.

"I knew that I could count on you, cousin." Seth replied his smile.

"Thank you so much, you're the best my lord~!" Mana jumped to the pharaoh and hugged him tight.

"Huaaah!" Atem chocked by Mana's cuddle, made him lost his balance and they fell to the floor in a very weird pose.

"Pffh...Ha ha ha!" The others couldn't hold their laughter when they saw it, as if there was nothing happening between them.

_With that everyone went back together as one entity._

- To Be Continued -

* * *

Before I wrote down my own fic, I always wonder why there're lots of people that create good fics... but they hardly update it, even make it on hiatus (' _ ')

So I thought that if I already created the whole storyline from the beginning till the end before I publish it then there will be no problem at all. (' w ')

In fact, It's not that easy... There're some things to consider, like the dialogue between the characters and so on... (- w -")

Sorry for underestimating the world of fanfic... (TT ^ TT)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	17. Chapter 17 : Hidden Purpose

The truth behind the kidnapping, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 17: Hidden Purpose ~**

Seth finally managed to convince everyone to accept his decision about rescuing Jouno as soon as possible with his cousin's help. Atem, Seth, Mana and their troops prepared everything they needed. The others stayed to protect the palace while they were gone.

"Please be careful on the way there." Kalim warned them.

"Yeah, we will." Atem nodded at him.

"We should not waste any more time." Seth reminded him.

"Take these before you leave." Isis gave a gold bracelet for Atem; it had three small red gemstones.

"What's this?" Atem looked at it carefully.

"I've put my _heka_ inside these gemstones. They have the same function as the millennium necklace, but you could only use it once for each gemstone." Isis explained it to him.

"Thank you Isis that would be very useful. We're leaving then." Atem looked at them before he turned away and went out of the palace.

"Goodbye~!" Mana, Khairo, and Khana waved at the others excitedly as their group started to move.

In the middle of the desert, The Thief King Bakura and the men in black robes slowed their horse velocity and stopped right in front of a hidden cave that located in the top of the rock.

"So this is the place?" Bakura asked one of the men in black robes.

"That's right, sir." He nodded slowly.

Bakura got off from the horse while carrying Jouno and held the millennium rod in his left hand. He ordered one of the men in black robes to take his horse and tied it up in the bushes then he led the way into the cave. They kept walking further until they reached a very huge chamber in the end of the cave.

"Welcome back, I've been expecting you." A tiny middle aged man with a long white beard appeared from the end of the chamber together with two men in black robes between him.

"You better fulfil your words old man, because I've brought the black dragon girl here." Bakura showed Jouno to him.

"Just as expected from the thief king, eh? She's quite pretty..." He about to touch Jouno, but Bakura quickly kept her away from him.

"I never said that you were allowed to touch her." Bakura gave him piercing gaze.

"How dare you-" One of the men in black robes wanted to attack Bakura; he was stopped by the old man.

"Let him be, he's just want to spend some time with his precious." The old man stared at him for quite a long time.

"...I'm understood." He got what the old man wants to tell him.

"You're a very lucky guy aren't you? If this tiny old man didn't stop your worthless action, you might be dead meat by now." Bakura smirked at him.

"Ukhh..." He clenched his fists, trying to hold his anger.

"I believe that you should be tired right now, I've prepared the room for you and the black dragon girl to rest before the sun comes down. Show him the place." The old man told the man that almost clashed with Bakura.

"Fine, this way please." He directed Bakura to the room heavily.

They walked without make any sound; Bakura was exhausted because he still carried Jouno with him and the man in black robe didn't want to mess up with him.

"This is her room, now I'll show yours." He opened the door for him.

"No, I'm going to stay in the same room." Bakura walked into the room and put Jouno on the small wooden bed.

"...As you wish" He closed the door, leaving Bakura and Jouno alone inside the room.

Bakura walked around the room and found something in the corner of the room.

"...What's this?" He took a very tiny bead on the ground and crushed it into pieces.

_The surveillance stone, huh? That troublesome old man..._ Bakura looked forthe beads and crushed it one by one until nothing remains.

He slowly got near to the small wooden bed and sat beside it, taking a close look at Jouno. She was still unconscious due to the influence of the millennium rod.

"I'm truly sorry for doing those things to you, but really I need you... Jouno." Bakura whispered silently as he gently stroked her hair, then leaned beside her and covered her with his arm. He could feel the warmth of her body, hear her steady heartbeat and the gentle sound of her breath.

"...When everything's over, I'm promise that it would be the last time I see you." He whispered to her ear with soft but sad voice.

At night, all the people gathered in the chamber and they sat in the form of circle.

"Everyone, all of us are gathered tonight to put an end of our waiting. " The old man gave a speech in the middle of the chamber.

The people in black robes cheered lively then back in silence.

"From time to time, our tribe was known because we always won in any kinds of battlefield. But we couldn't do anything when the pharaoh and his sacred guardian summoned the spirit monsters to attack us..." He continued his long speech, making Bakura bored.

"Just finished your speech, old man..." Bakura yawned widely.

"...And now with the black dragon heart, '_the contract with the abyss'_ ritual can be done and wewill finallybe able to defeat them." They cheered once again.

"What did you said old man? You've promise not to harm her!" Bakura yelled at the old man furiously.

"I agreed that I wouldn't hurt the girl, but not the black dragon inside her." The old man snapped his finger, and all the men in black robes quickly surrounded him.

"All of you are really a bunch of pathetic cowards; no wonder that you easily beaten by them." Bakura smirked at them.

"That's enough; you're going to regret what you've said!" The old man started to cast a spell on the thief king.

"Catch me if you can!" Bakura laughed as he carried Jouno away with him while he used the crowd of men in black robes for the stepping.

_Almost there..._ Bakura increased his speed when he saw the exit, then suddenly his body became numb. He fell to the ground and the millennium rod slipped away from his hand.

"Damn it!" He tried to move his arm, but it was useless.

_I have to do something or else they're going to captured her._ Bakura looked at Jouno; the power of millennium rod was gone from her when he dropped it and she started to regain her consciousness.

_Why did she have to snap back at the time like this?_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

Since Fanfiction adding Image Manager feature in their system, my attention get distracted to the illustrations for story cover (My bad... ha ha) (- v -")

Tomorrow I'm going outbound with people in my university department for three days, so I will be back on Monday.

Can't wait till tomorrow~ (' v ')

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	18. Chapter 18 : The Reciprocation

Jouno does something unexpected, enjoy ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 18: The Reciprocation ~**

Bakura thought that the old man and the men in black robes only wanted to make Jouno be on their side, but it turned out to be more than just that. They intended to kill Jouno and use the black dragon's heart which remains inside her to hold the dark ritual so they can defeat the pharaoh and his sacred guardians.

Even though his hatred towards them hasn't gone yet, the thief king wasn't willing to lose her just for the old man's vengeance plan. He was determined to get her out of that chamber and unavoidably return Jouno to the palace because that was the safest place for her. The old man casted a spell to stop him, making Bakura's body became numb.

Jouno was thrown away from him and the millennium rod was dropped from his hand. Bakura tried to reach it before the men in black robes caught him up, took the millennium rod and control Jouno with it, but he couldn't move his body. When they about to reach him, Jouno regained her consciousness.

"...Bakura?" Jouno looked at him in confusion.

"Jouno, get out of this place right now!" Bakura stared at her tensely.

"...Huh?" Jouno became more confused.

"Tsk... I don't have time to explain everything right now, just listen to me will you?" Bakura tried to convince her.

_Damn! They're getting closer..._ Bakura heard the sound of footsteps.

Suddenly Jouno stood up from the ground, took the millennium rod, and dragged Bakura to a small niche on the cave wall.

"What are you doing?" Bakura didn't know what she was planning to.

"I don't know what exactly is going on right now, but it seems you're in danger. I'll distract them so you could get away from here safely." Jouno put some rocks beside Bakura to covered him from enemy's sight.

"Idiot! You're the one that they're after!" Bakura tried to move his body, but he still couldn't able to do it.

Jouno didn't answer him, she kept picking the rocks and put them beside him.

"Hey, are you hearing me?" Bakura got irritated by her attitude.

"...You've saved me once, now it's my turn to do the same." Jouno smiled sadly at him.

"I don't need any payback, beside I'm the one who responsible for this!" Bakura glared at her.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to see anybody hurt again because of me." Jouno raised the millennium rod to Bakura.

_You've been through so many difficult things in your life, you are really tired and exhausted even thoughyou would never admit it. Now go to sleep... _Jouno gave him instruction through the millennium rod's power.

"Jouno..." Bakura tried to resist, but his body didn't want to listen to him. His eyes started to close on their own and his body slowly began to relaxed.

"When you're awake, everything is going to be alright..." Jouno brushed his fringe and kissed him on the forehead.

_Ra, please protect Bakura from everything that would harm him..._ Jouno walked away from him and stood in the middle of the cave.

"They're here..." Jouno could see them from a far.

"There she is!" One of the men in black robes pointed at her.

"Come and get me!" Jouno spreaded her wing and flew out of the cave.

"Don't let her escape!" The men in black robes quickly followed her and passed Bakura's hiding place.

_Good, they didn't see him..._ Jouno looked back for a second then increased her speed. After being on the air for quite a long time, she felt tired due to the heat and decided to search for a temporary shelter.

"I guess they're already left far behind... Maybe I should take a rest before return and take Bakura out of that place." Jouno looked around and found a small river below her.

"Alright, this could be the right place." Jouno flew down and landed on the soft grass.

Jouno fold her wings then walked towards the river. She sat on the big rock while used her hand to scoop the water and quenched her thirst.

"Fuah... It's really cool and refreshing~!" Jouno kept drinking till she was satisfied. Suddenly she started to felt dizzy and her vision became blurry.

"Huh-w-what's happening to me?" She tried to stand up on the rock but she slipped and fell down to the water.

"Ughh..." She made an effort to get out of the water, but her dizziness became worse.

_Somebody please help me..._

- To Be Continued -

* * *

I've back from outbound two days ago and on the next Monday I'm going to have last exam (' _ ')"

But there's always a reason not to study, like : "There's still plenty of time." or "I'll do it tomorrow.", etc. (- v -)

So maybe after updating this one I'm going to study (hopefuly) XD

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	19. Chapter 19 : Forgive

Atem and his group found the thief king Bakura, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 19: Forgive ~**

Jouno managed to hide Bakura and escape from the pursuit of the men in black robes, however something wrong happened to her that made her fall down into the river and swept away. Meanwhile, Atem and his group had been searching around the desert for a day without any result. The heat of the desert made the journey become more difficult for them, but they didn't want to waste any more time.

"I'm really tired..." Khana whispered to her twin.

"Me too..." Khairo replied her.

"Please hold yourself, guys... We're going to make it." Mana patted the twins' head to cheer them up.

"We have to figure out the specific place to find her or else it would be useless." Atem clenched his fist.

"If continued like this, we don't have other choice but to dividing ourselves and split up." Seth looked at his cousin.

"I think it's too risky, we should find another way to do it." Atem shook his head.

"...What about the bracelet that Isis gave you before we left the palace?" Mana pointed at the bracelet.

"I've tried it as we left the palace, but nothing happened." Atem looked at the bracelet.

"Really? That's weird..." Mana scratched her own head.

"There're three possibilities; first the bracelet isn't working, second the person is the millennium item holder, or last... the person is dead." Atem told them heavily.

"Please don't say things like that... Big sister Jouno wouldn't die that easy." Khairo spoke to the pharaoh.

"So you've tried to observe Jouno and that thief?" Seth asked him.

"I only tried to observe Jouno... Bakura said that he was no longer a part of living things." Atem replied his cousin.

"Why don't give it a shot? At least we have done something rather than nothing." Mana urged her old friend.

"I guess you're right, I'll try it." Atem closed his eyes and one the gem on the bracelet glowed out of blue.

"The bracelet is working, we still have hope!" Khana hugged her twin and Mana.

"How is it?" Seth asked him.

"Wait a minute... I saw him sleep on a niche inside the cave. Nobody seems around him..." Atem told them what he saw while kept concentrating on it.

"How about Jouno?" Mana asked him.

"I don't know... I couldn't see her around that place." Atem tried to see more but he couldn't.

"What should we do then?" Khana was about to cry.

"We've use the power of bracelet, so we shouldn't waste it. We'll go to the thief's place and captured him, and then at least we could gain some information about her." Seth gave his opinion to his cousin.

"Yeah, I guess you've got the right point. Let's go." Atem galloped his horse to the north east.

The others followed Atem's direction and at the end of the day they finally managed to reach their destination.

"This is the cave that I see from the bracelet's vision." Atem pointed at the thick bushes on the rocky mountains.

"If you don't use the bracelet, perhaps we wouldn't find this place." Mana got off from the horse and helped the twins down.

"Please take care of our horse while we're going inside." Atem gave their horses to his soldiers.

"Yes, my lord." They nodded at him.

"Be careful, it's really dark in here and we don't know what we would face." Seth warned the other as he carried Khana with him.

"Yes." Mana held Khairo's hand while Atem lit a thick branch as a fire torch.

They walked slowly to prevent something occurred and then they arrived in front of the niche in no time.

"There he is." Atem approached the rock pile and removed it with Seth's help.

"He didn't move... Is he dead?" Mana tried to look closer.

"No, there're some injury on his body but he still breathing. Let's wait for him to gain his consciousness." Atem picked another branch and lit it up using the previous torch then put it on the small crack on the cave wall.

"That's odd... The last time we met him, his wound was healed easily as if he wasn't hurt at all." Seth checked the thief king's injuries.

"...Let's treat his wounds first, maybe he would tell us everything." Mana used the little amount of her _heka_ to cure his injuries.

"Mana, are you sure about this?" Atem asked her hesitantly, afraid to hurt her feeling.

"Yeah... I know it's impossible to forget everything that he had done to us, but at least we should do something that we could do." Mana smiled sadly at him.

"You've grown up a lot, Mana. Mahaad would be proud of you right now." Atem gave her supportive hug.

"Thank you... Pharaoh..." Mana tried to hold her tears while kept healing the thief king till it's fully recovered.

"It's alright... You can release all the feelings inside you." Atem erased her tear with his hand.

Mana suddenly hugged Atem tightly as she crying out loud on his embrace, gripped the millennium ring that wrapped around her neck.

- To Be Continued -

* * *

I wonder... Is this what it feels to live in two totally different world?

Nobody around me know about my activities in here and nobody in here know my real identity...

I bet I'm not the only one who ever experience and think about something like this, right? (o' v 'o)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	20. Chapter 20 : Negotiation

Atem's group tried to digging up the information from Bakura, enjoy ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 20: Negotiation ~**

Atem and his groups hadn't known about Jouno's location yet, but they managed to found the Thief King Bakura in unconscious state. They decided to treat his wound and then waited for him to woke up on his own. So many hours had passed, however Bakura still unable to move his body. Suddenly an unknown small dim light that came out of nowhere approached him and slowly covered his entire body.

_It's warm..._ Bakura never felt something like this before, but he sure it wasn't mean to harm him.

Then he vaguely heard some familiar voices that became more and more apparent.

"He's awake!" A girly voice shouted cheerily.

"Be careful Mana, stay away with the kids." The quite familiar annoying voice urged him to open his eyes.

"Ughh... Wha-" Bakura stopped talking as he realized the situation he faced.

"Where's Jouno?" The high priest grabbed his clothes without warning.

"Hold on, he just regain his consciousness." The pharaoh tried to hold his cousin.

Bakura brushed off the high priest's hand of his clothes and walked away from them.

"Where are you going?" Seth quickly stopped the thief king by stood in front of him.

"Move aside..." Bakura glared at him.

"Not until you answer my question." Seth stared back at him.

"I said move aside!" Bakura shouted in anger.

"I said not until you answer my question!" Seth yelled back at him.

"Please stop this unnecessary thing." Atem walked to stop the fight between them.

"...What do you want pharaoh?" Bakura gave him unpleasant look.

"We just want to know Jouno's whereabouts." He replied calmly.

"Why should I tell you about it? I won't get any advantage from that." Bakura folded his arm.

"Quit joking around! We've save your life and this is what we got?" Seth clenched his fist.

"I would never ask someone like you for help." Bakura turned his face away.

"You're the most ungrateful man I've ever seen." Seth stared at him with despising look.

"...Fine. If you tell us, I will forgive all the things you've done so far." Atem hoped he won't regret what he had just said.

"WHAT?" Bakura and Seth stared at him in disbelief.

"...Are you out of mind? He had done so many unforgivable things!" Seth tried to convinced his cousin.

"...Why should I get forgiveness from you? You're the one who should beg for forgiveness." Bakura felt humiliated by his statement.

"Know your place, pathetic thief." Seth couldn't accept his cousin treated like that.

"I already know my place, and it's above your head." Bakura smirked at him.

"You-" Seth irritated by his attitude.

"Just stop it already!" Atem scolded them.

"...Or what? Hit me with that big pendant of yours?" Bakura pointed at the millennium puzzle.

"We came here just to save Jouno, nothing else. We don't have any intention to hurt you or something like that." Mana approached their place.

"I told you to stay back." Atem warned her.

"So you're the millennium ring new holder..." Bakura looked closely at her.

Mana got scared by his gaze, quickly hid herself behind Atem. Bakura became speechless for a while as he saw her behaviour then he chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Atem asked him suspiciously.

"That girl's face right now reminds me of Jouno's expression when she saw me for the first time." Bakura smiled by his own as he imagined it.

"Everybody would make that kind of face if they see you." Seth smirked at him.

"Got problem with that?" Bakura glared at him.

They kept mocking each other, this time Atem didn't want to stop them.

"I couldn't stand their childish attitude..." Atem shook his head.

"It's alright as long as they didn't fight for real." Mana patted his shoulder.

After quite a long quarrel, they finally stopped on their own.

_At last..._ Atem and Mana sighed in relief.

"...Now can we go back to our previous discussion?" Atem asked the thief king.

"If you still insisting me on telling you the place, it's not going to work because I'm going save her by myself. Why don't you just go back to the palace and enjoy your comfy royal throne?" Bakura made 'shoo' hand movement at them.

"Wait a minute... What do you mean by 'save' her? Aren't you the one who take her from us?" Seth raised one of his eyebrows.

"I don't want to waste my energy by answering your worthless question." Bakura tried to maintain his pride.

"So what exactly do you want?" Atem almost lost his patience.

"Not much, I want a horse to travel there and I will take Jouno with me once everything is done." Bakura grinned at him.

"I will grant your request for horse. About Jouno, I think it would be better if we let her decide on her own. How about that? "Atem looked at him confidently.

"Huh, fair enough... I accept your offer." Bakura showed his contented smile.

They shook each other's' hands as the beginning of their agreement.

- To Be Continued -

* * *

I really hate everything related with horror... (- _ -)

I dislike the gore scene, but what worse is the sudden appearance or sudden movement that made me really shocked.

once I shocked, I screamed like crazy and hugged somebody close to me (usually my sister) *that's so embarrassing* (- _ -")

I still couldn't get why people love something like that? (TT _ TT)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	21. Chapter 21: Main Headquarter

They heading to the enemy's main hideout, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 21: Main Headquarter ~**

The pharaoh's group and the thief king eventually reached a mutual agreement between them. The troops were confused as the pharaoh and others walked out of the cave together with the thief king and they whispered with one another.

"Attention to all people, I want to announce that starting from now on Bakura the thief king has been declared free from everything he had committed in the past. Therefore, you shall not capture nor harm him with any kind of reasons." The pharaoh spoke firmly and steadily.

"WHAT?" The troops were shocked by what they'd heard and became more confused.

"If anyone of you had hearing problem, I'd like to make things clearer; I was freed by the pharaoh himself so capturing me means death!" Bakura laughed evilly at the silenced troops.

"Right now we have to move fast, bring all the horses here and gave one to him." Seth pointed at the thief king.

The troops untied all the horses from the bushes and gave them to the pharaoh and the others.

"Bakura, we've fulfil the promise of our agreement and now it's time for you to fulfil yours." Atem spoke to the thief king.

"I won't be able to pass through to the afterlife before I manage to fulfil all of my promise." Bakura replied him.

"So that's the reason why you're still loitering around here although you don't belong in this world anymore." Seth stared at him.

"Heh, you got me this time mister priest." Bakura smiled at him bitterly.

"Hmph, you finally admit your defeat." Seth smirked at him.

"Oi, oi... Don't get too cocky, you pathetic priest." Bakura glared at him. They stared at each other with anger and annoyance.

"There we go again..." Atem face palmed.

They moved along in the middle of the desert according to Bakura's direction and finally reached dim and narrow gorge. They left and tied the horses to small trees nearby before kept walking between the gaps of the cliff. At the end of the shaft they could see a large structure that carved out of a sandstone rock face.

"This is their main lair, they brought me here right after found my body in the Kul Elna ruins." Bakura explained to them.

"Let's go inside." Atem about to walked into the hideout when Bakura stopped him.

"There're so many traps inside this place, let me walk first." Bakura told the pharaoh.

"Alright, I'm counting on you." Atem smiled at him.

Bakura nodded at him and then went inside cautiously.

"Just follow my steps and no matter what happens, don't ever look back." Bakura warned them.

They walked in a row, carefully followed the thief king. The more they getting inside the path became more difficult to be passed. When Seth accidentally dropped something from his clothes.

_The necklace!_ He quickly turned around to pick the necklace up then suddenly something sharp came towards him. Luckily he managed to dodge it.

"Seth!" The others shouted panicky.

"Are you retarded or something? How many times should I tell you not to look back?!" Bakura yelled at him angrily.

"Hmpf, you think I couldn't avoid something like that?" Seth hold the necklace tightly to make sure it wouldn't slip again.

"You're just lucky, next time it will hit your head for sure." Bakura tried not to look back.

They kept walking until eventually reached the core of the hideout. They tried to see from the place where they hid.

"There're so many people in black robes..." Khana whispered to her twin. Khairo only nodded because he didn't want to make any noise.

"We should find her as soon as possible. Do you know the place where they kept her?" Atem asked the thief king.

"I never go further than this, but I'm sure that she's hidden somewhere..." Bakura looked around the place to search for any possible passage.

"Why we have to hide like this? We could summon spirit monsters and attack them..." Khairo asked the adults.

"They're high skilled fighter and many of them have the spirit monsters, even though only some of them have the strong one." Bakura explained it to him.

"You usually babbling about how strong your spirit monster is, but right now you don't have any courage to fight them?" Seth asked him in disbelief.

"I'm no longer a living thing, so I don't have the Diabound with me anymore. The chief of the black robes men gave me some power to disguise and blend with my environment, but he took it back when I tried to escape from them. At least I still got my physical skills and a very good temper to deal with someone like you." Bakura grinned at him.

"Hmpf, you only don't want to admit your cowardice." Seth smirked back at him.

"If you think that your bait is going to work on me that is a really big mistake." Bakura stared at him.

"I never thought that someone like you would able to stand dealing with me." Seth chuckled at him.

"Please someone stopped this useless fight right now." Atem clenched his fist desperately.

"I will." They quickly turned to the source of the voice.

_We have been found out?_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

Recently I created an account at Nico Nico Douga to watch the YGO fanmade videos (' v ') *Since it use Japanese, I have no choice but to use instinct to fill out the registration and searching for the videos* (- v -")

But my decision to sign up there were paid off because they're really good and some of them are so hilarious~ XD

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	22. Chapter 22: White Dragon

Jouno reunited with the people from the past and someone similar to her, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 22: White Dragon ~**

The pharaoh team had reached the men in black robes' main hideout and they thought that everything went smoothly, but not until they were found out by the enemies. The men in black robes surrounded their hiding place and the old man was there with them as well.

"Ho ho... I thought that you already ended up as a living corpse that unable to move and only waited for the death to come, it suits you better." The old man grinned at the Bakura.

"As if I care about that, where's the black dragon girl?" Bakura glared at him furiously.

"You're the one that took her to us and now you want her back? That's quite rude don't you think?" The old man chuckled darkly.

"Don't give me that kind of bullshit; just tell me where she is!" Bakura shouted at the old man, made the men in black robes pointed their weapons at him.

"Please calm down boys, that guy only want to act as a hero for his lover. Appreciate his effort..." The old man's words made the men in black robes laughed out loud and put down their weapons.

"W-What are you looking at?" Bakura's face became red as everyone looked at him.

"You will deal with me after everything's over." Seth whispered silently as he stared sharply at him.

"Oi, oi... You still have time to talk about that?" Bakura sweat dropped.

"Khe khe khe... Since you have entertained us, I should tell you as the reward..." The old man smiled evilly at them.

Meanwhile, Jouno opened her eyes as she heard so many voices that became more and more vivid.

"Look, the black dragon girl is awake!" The people quickly surround her.

"Huh? Where am I?" Jouno looked around while she was trying to adjust her sight to the environment; it was quite dark and there are several torch lights that lit up the place.

"Jouno!" The source of the familiar voices came towards her.

"You're... Zaid and Elna?" Jouno couldn't believe of what she saw.

"Haha, glad you still remember us." Zaid patted her shoulder enthusiastically.

"It's been a long time, isn't it?" Elna smiled at her.

"...Zaid, Elna... I-I'm truly sorry for hurting you guys, I really didn't know it would turn out like that..." Jouno's eyes became teary, she bowed deeply at them.

"Nah, it's alright. Bakura had explained everything to us, beside we're not hurt that bad aren't we?" Zaid looked at Elna that nodded approvingly.

"There... There... All of us here know that you really having a very hard time, but now you could be freed from those burdens." Elna hugged her tightly as she patted her head.

"How did you know about that?" Jouno looked at them confusedly, and then she started to realize something wrong.

"...Wait a minute, Bakura had told me something about you guys..." Jouno tried to remember his words when he faced Seth and her.

"...Jouno, I know it's a little bit sudden but please listen to what I'm going to be saying..." Elna spoke slowly, to make sure that Jouno understood.

"...I managed to fly away from the enemies then I felt exhausted and thirsty, so I came down to the river to rest. Then my body felt weird and... I don't remember what happened anymore." Jouno looked at her friends confusedly.

Zaid tried to explain to her, "Yeah, the water that you drank was poisoned by those people that chase you down, but their effort was useless because..."

"The dragon girl was already dead." The old man smiled contentedly, waited for their reaction.

"...That's a lie." Their body became numb as they heard it. _Jouno... is dead?_

"No, that's not true..." Khana couldn't accepted it, she lost her consciousness and about to fell down.

"Khana!" Mana managed to caught her before she fell to the ground.

Suddenly there was a white light that came out from Khana's body and it slowly turned into a white dragon.

_The White Dragon!_ They stunned with the creature that appeared right before their eyes.

"We could use it as a replacement for the black dragons, capture her immediately!" The old man ordered his subordinate to take Khana away from Mana.

"Black Magician Girl, defence barrier!" The spirit monster quickly casted a spell that surround her master.

"Mana, Bakura please take the twins away from here!" Atem covered them from the men in black robes.

"Don't let them escape!" The men in black robes tried to get away from Atem and Seth.

"We won't let it happen!" Atem summoned the black magician while Seth summoned his own spirit monster, Duos.

_Jouno, please help us wherever you are!_

"This is my entire fault, because of me they have to face something like this..." Jouno couldn't hold her tears.

"Jouno, we don't have any right to interfere the living world... It's not ours anymore." Elna tried to convince her.

"I have to save them no matter what! Even if I must sacrifice myself to do it!" Jouno cried loudly.

"There's a way to do it." A pale skinned girl with long white hair and blue eyes walked towards her.

_Who is this girl?_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

Today is the last day of my examination day~ \(^ w ^)/

That's means I could write and update it faster... Muahahahah! XD *hopefully* (- v -")

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	23. Chapter 23 : Exile

They're retreating to prepare themselves, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 23: Exile ~**

After hearing about Jouno's death, Khana lost her consciousness and accidentally summoned her spirit monster, the white dragon. The old man saw that as a chance to use it for the black dragon's substitution and order his underlings to capture her. Mana and Bakura took the twins away from that place while Atem and Seth prevented the men in black robes from chasing them.

"Please let me go, I want to fight together with them!" Khairo struggled from the thief king's grip, but it was useless.

"Don't be selfish, brat! You're only going to be a burden for them." Bakura scolded him.

"I'm strong enough to fight those guys!" Khairo turned around, tried to see Atem and Seth from a far.

"Don't look-" Before Bakura managed to finish his words, a sharp blade sped towards him and pierced his left shoulder.

"Mister Thief!" Khairo shouted at him worriedly.

"I've told you not to look back, you silly brat..." Bakura kept running while tried to restrain the blood to flow out from his body.

"Y-You're bleeding!" Khairo panicked as he saw the thief king's clothes reddened.

"Kheh, This kind of wound is nothing..." Bakura tried to hide the pain from his face.

"Let me heal your injury." Mana about to use her _heka_ when Bakura stopped her.

"Save your power for something more important." Bakura looked at her.

"But if we don't treat it soon..." Mana tried to convince him.

"I wouldn't be dead no matter how bad the wound is." Bakura spoke confidently.

"...If you said so." Mana sighed.

They managed to get out of the hideout and continued their running until they found a place to rest. They sat down below a big, shady tree. Khairo kept sobbing since they left Atem and Seth inside that place.

"Oi, stop crying brat. It's pissing me off!" Bakura headed toward him.

"...If only I could fight with them." Khairo mumbled sadly.

"Heh... You really want to help them out that much?" Bakura asked him.

"Yes, I really do." Khairo answered steadily.

"...Fine, I'll teach you how to control the spirit monster." Bakura told Khairo to follow him.

"Alright!" Khairo wept his tears and quickly followed the thief king.

Meanwhile, Jouno looked at the white haired girl that stood right in front of her.

"I could send you back to the living world, but there's a very high price that you have to pay. Are you sure about it?" She warned Jouno.

"I _don't_ care how much the cost is, but I beg you please sent me back!" Jouno bowed deeply at her.

"Alright then, please follow me." She walked to a narrow, dark tunnel.

"W-Wait!" Jouno quickly stood up from the ground and walked along with the white haired girl to the small space in the end of the dark tunnel.

"What're you going to do in this place?" Jouno looked around curiously. There were two big jars that used for fireplace, a shield, and two swords crossing each other.

"I'm going to perform a ritual to send you back to the living world." She took Jouno in the middle of the small space.

"After the ritual is done, you can't change it back... Are you really preparing yourself for it?" She asked Jouno for the last time.

"Yeah, I'm always ready." Jouno nodded excitedly.

"Very well then, may Ra's protection be with you..." She walked away from the middle of the space and then she closed her eyes while uttering the unknown words that somehow Jouno familiar with.

_I've heard it somewhere before from Kha...Don't tell that she is...!_ Suddenly Jouno realized something about the white haired girl.

"Wait, you're..." Just before Jouno managed to finish her words, a black light came out from her body and when the light was gone, she already vanished from that place.

_Good luck, Jouno..._

Inside the enemies' main headquarter; Atem and Seth were exhausted due to the excessive use of their spiritual power. They had defeated all the men in black robes' spirit monsters and now it's only the old man left.

"Give up, old man. You can't defeat us alone." Seth looked at him victoriously.

"Ughh..." He tried to think of a way out, and then he grinned as he reached into his pocket.

_Luckily I still have this with me..._ He looked at two guys in front of him and chuckled evilly.

"What are you laughing about?" Atem asked him suspiciously.

"You'll know it soon enough..." He slowly took out the item from his pocket.

_The millennium rod!_ Atem's eyes widened as the old man pointed it at him.

"Look out!" Seth rushed towards Atem and shoved him away from the located target. Seth fell down after he received the attack instead of Atem.

"Cousin?" Atem quickly stood up from the ground and headed to Seth's place. When he kneeled down to checked his cousin's condition, suddenly Duos tried to attack Atem, but luckily the black magician managed to repel the strike.

_What is going on?_ Atem were confused by Duos' weird behaviour, and then he turned at Seth.

"...Must kill the pharaoh..." Seth whispered emotionlessly.

_That old man has brainwashed him..._ Atem looked at the old man that smiled contentedly.

"Black Magician, take the millennium rod away from him!" The spirit monster casted a spell, but it was interrupted by Dios.

"If this goes on, one of us will lose our power... That's means death!" Atem whispered tensely while looked at the possessed Seth.

_Heh heh heh... Who's going to be killed first?_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

I thought that updating while on holiday is much easier than normal day, but in fact it's way more difficult... I don't have any excuse to stay in the room (usually "study" would be effective, LOL) XD

So I'm really sorry if I didn't update it for quite a long time... *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	24. Chapter 24 : The Help

When everything seems hopeless, someone comes to the rescue! Enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Chapter 24: The Help ~**

Even though all of his subordinates were defeated by Atem and Seth, The old man managed to control Seth's mind with the millennium rod and made him turned against Atem. The pharaoh had use all his might to bring Seth back to his normal self, but it didn't work at all - even made him badly injured by Seth's assault.

"Well, well, well... So this is the end of the Great Pharaoh? That's quite disappointing..." The old man chuckled darkly at him.

"I wouldn't forgive you for hurting my precious people!" Atem shouted at him with all of his might.

"How frightening, O' Great Pharaoh... What would you do about it then? Heh heh heh..." The old man kept taunting him.

"Khh...!" Atem fell to the ground, he felt that his head were spinning and his vision became blurred due to blood loss.

"You even don't have any power to stand up by yourself, huh? I guess I don't have much choice but to help you release the pain." The old man instructed Seth to finish him off.

"Farewell, pharaoh..." The old man smiled widely as he saw Duos about to beheaded Atem, but suddenly there was a blast of light that came from the exit, preventing Duos from getting near the pharaoh.

"What?" The old man and Atem looked at the source of the light.

"Look who's crawling on the ground... Heh heh." Atem's eyes widened as he saw the thief king walked toward him along with Mana, the twins, and their spirit monsters.

"You guys... What are you doing here?" Atem asked worriedly.

"That's how you thank your life saviours? This little brat insisting on helping you guys out, so I guess he deserves a shot." Bakura pointed at Khairo, who smiled proudly at himself.

"Thank goodness you're alright; I was really worried that we wouldn't make it on time!" Mana hugged Atem tightly.

"Ughh... M-My wounds...!" Atem tried to warn her about his injury.

"Oops, haha... my mistake~" Mana quickly released her arm from him and used her _heka_ to heal him.

"Ho ho~ Now there're two dragons in here..." The old man was so pleased when he saw two divine creatures in front of him.

"Yeah, they'll punish you for your sins!" Khairo pointed at him.

"Is that so? Perhaps I shall introduce you to my spirit monster..." The old man summoned a warrior with dragon shaped armour and red cloak. He held two sabres in both of his hands.

"A normal human being? It's should be an easy opponent for my dragon!" Khairo instructed his spirit monster to attack the old man.

"We'll see about that..." The old man seemed so calm, made Bakura felt suspicious about it.

"Hold on brat-" Just before Bakura finished his sentence; Khairo's white dragon had launched a light blast toward the old man.

"W-What?" Khairo were shocked when he saw another light blast went against his and made them disappeared as they were clashing at each other.

"Never judge people by their appearance, young boy. He might be look nothing compared to your white dragon, but he had something more than just normal skill." The old man smiled

"That's..." They saw the old man's spirit monster was riding on Khana's white dragon, but Khana still laid unconsciously on their side._How did he do it?_

"You must be wondering why I could control the spirit monster without controlling the master. My spirit monster is called 'The Dragon Manipulator'; he can control a dragon no matter how strong it was." The old man explained at them proudly.

_There must be something that could stop this whole thing, but what?_

Within the deepest part of his heart, Seth struggled from the power of the millennium rod that bind his soul and took over the control of his body, forced him to fight against his younger cousin and the others.

"It's happening again..." Seth gritted his teeth in anger and disappointment, for being careless and letting the same occasion repeated twice.

Seth used all of his might to release himself from the restraint, but it didn't show any significant result. He kept trying over and over again until he was totally exhausted; however it's still remained the same as before.

_If only I could get another chance to make everything right once again... _Seth was about to close his eyes when suddenly a dazzling light illuminate his surroundings. He narrowed his eyes to be able to see things without hurting his eyes. From the light he saw an armoured figure that slowly came toward him.

_That familiar voice... Jouno?_

- To Be Continued -

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Just few more chapters left before the story ends... *phew* (- v -)

I never thought that it would be have more chapters than the previous one (^ _ ^;)

Well then... Just enjoy the show~ *bow* (_ _)


	25. Chapter 25 : Ressurection

The revival of the death, enjoy~ ^^

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**Chapter 25: Resurrection ~**

Seth was trapped inside his own heart due to the power of the millennium rod that controlled by the old man, took over his body and used him as a weapon against his own side. In his desperation, someone came to him and gave him a hand.

Meanwhile, the spirit battle between the pharaoh and the old man continued. The old man used Dragon Manipulator's power to forced Khana's white dragon for aiming its attack at the pharaoh and others. Khairo's white dragon once again used the same attack to neutralize both of the attack. Seth's Duos stormed to cut Khairo's white dragon, but Mana's magician girl put a spell binding circle around to prevent him from doing it.

Atem knew that it's just the time before both of the sides were run out of power to fight. In order to make it stop, he had to thinking of a way to break the no-end cycle and make it into an advantage for them. He already got a plan, but he didn't have so much power to actualize it. He looked around the chamber to see any possibilities, and then his eyes caught the thief king.

"Bakura, I have something to talk to you!" Atem shouted at him because they were separated in quite a long distance.

"What is it, pharaoh?" Bakura quickly went to his place while kept avoiding the attacks.

"I've got an idea to turn this condition into our advantage, but I need your help to do it." Atem explained his plan at the thief king silently.

The old man was getting bored by his own game and he thought about putting an end of it. He got up from the ground where he seated and walked approach the battleground. Both Atem and Bakura were stood steadily; waiting for the old man to command an attack - without any spirit monsters around to protect them.

"It's really getting boring right now... White dragon, gave them a quick death!" The white dragon created a big ball of light and aimed it at Atem and Bakura.

"Now!" Atem used his remaining power to summon Kuriboh right before the light blast hit them.

"Did it work?" They couldn't see clearly due to the smoke from the white dragon's attack. Their eyes widened as the smoke disappeared and they saw the Kuriboh had successfully multiplying itself.

"Alright, now it's my turn!" Bakura used the power of millennium pendant that he borrowed from Atem to sacrifice three Kuriboh and summoned The Dark Necrofear.

_W-What is that weird looking monster?_ The old man was a little bit terrified with its unusual and horrifying looks.

"What's wrong old man, are you scared right now? Heh heh..." Bakura tried to provoke him.

"If you think you could scare me with that, you're making a big mistake!" The old man ordered Duos and White Dragon to attack both at the same time, the Dark Necrofear didn't stand a chance to fight back and blown by the attack.

_Heh, got you..._ Bakura tried to hold his grin.

"No fight at all? Such a weakling..." The old man grumbled disappointedly.

"Hey, old man... You said that we mustn't judge people by their appearance, right?" Atem asked him calmly.

"Indeed, why are you-" Suddenly the old man realized something wrong.

"You finally realize it; we purposely summoned that monster not because of its strength, but it's because it has ability to control opponent's monster after it was sent to the afterworld." Atem pointed at him.

"WHAT?" The old man quickly looked at his dragon manipulator and the white dragon that changed its side to the pharaoh's.

"You won't be able to defeat us now." Bakura gave him intimidating glare.

He looked around desperately, and then he grinned evilly as he saw his prisoner.

"I don't think so... I still got power to control that high priest; I could make him kill himself in a very slow and painful death if I want to." The old man pointed the millennium rod at Atem and Bakura, to make a gap between him and both of them.

"You really are the lowest..." Atem gritted his teeth furiously.

"It's alright as long as I'm able to fulfil my goal, even if I have to throw away my dignity!" The old man looked at him with hatred.

"Khh..." Atem clenched his fist.

"Now stay away or I'll make him cut himself!" The old man used the power of the millennium rod to made Seth pointed a dagger at his own neck.

Atem didn't have any other choice but to accept the old man's demand for Seth's safety, however Bakura had another thought; he decided to make his own move.

"Bakura don't-" Atem about to stop him, but it was too late. Bakura rushed toward the old man to snatch the millennium rod away from him.

"Got it!" Bakura managed to touch the edge of the millennium rod, but the old man had predicted his movement and avoided Bakura's sudden strike.

"That's one thousand years too early to do that!" The old man laughed evilly as he pointed the millennium rod at Seth.

"Seth!" Atem screamed as he saw Seth cut himself with the dagger in his hand and fresh blood flowing out of his neck, fortunately the wound wasn't deep enough to kill him. That attack made his body shocked and he accidentally dropped the necklace from his grip.

"Remember carefully; this guy would be the one who will deal with the consequences of your foolish ignorance." The old man grinned victoriously at the pharaoh.

_I'm sorry cousin; this is my entire fault..._ Atem looked at Seth sadly, and then he saw a small light that came out of the necklace. The light eventually became wider and brighter.

"W-What's this light?" They closed their eyes to prevent them blinded by the light.

After their surrounding darkened, they opened their eyes slowly and surprised by what they saw; Seth had turned back to his normal self and he wasn't alone; Seth held a hand of the long-lost girl in shining black armour.

_Jouno has brought back to life!_

- To Be Continued -

* * *

This is supposed to be the last chapter, but the story accidentally 'changed' in the last minutes of the making... So it would continuing for 1-2 more chapters (^_^;)

I hope everybody wouldn't mind about that... *bow* (_ _)

Rewritten by Yami Ace and Neko


	26. Chapter 26 : Last Battle

The last part of the battle scene, enjoy~ ^^

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**~ Chapter 26 : Last Battle ~**

The old man thought that he was one step away to the door of victory, until he saw his prisoner was no longer bind in his power and the dead dragon girl had stood beside the high priest in black shining armour. The pharaoh and others were so happy to see them back, they rushed towards them.

"Jouno, Seth... You're back!" Mana couldn't hide her happiness.

"Big sister Jouno...!" Khairo carried his twin with him and because of his clumsiness he accidentally tripped his own leg, luckily Bakura grabbed them before they fell to the ground.

"You really are a troublesome brat..." Bakura loosen his grip after Khairo able to stand up properly.

"I-I'm sorry." Khairo nodded awkwardly.

"...Bakura?" Jouno couldn't believe seeing Bakura were enjoying himself being the part of the pharaoh group.

"Don't get me wrong; I only came here to take you back... That's all." Bakura rolled his eyes away, avoiding eye contact with her.

Jouno knew that Bakura was too shy to admit his gentle side, so she just smiled and nodded silently.

"Keep the conversation later, we've got something more important to do right now." Atem reminded them not to get carried away with the moment because the battle wasn't over yet.

"Hey, where did he go?" Khairo couldn't see the old man around that place.

"Trying to escape, huh? I'll make him regret that." Bakura grinned evilly as he crackled his hand enthusiastically then rushed to a small tunnel at the back side of the sanctuary; the others followed him from behind.

The old man desperately kept forcing himself to keep running faster even though his body wasn't capable enough to do it. He thought that he already far away from them when suddenly he saw someone blocked his way from a far.

"Where are you going?" The Thief King slowly walked over while keeping his eyes on the old man.

The old man stepped backward as he tried to look for another escape route, then he realized that it was too late; he already surrounded by them.

"All of your wickedness ends here, old man. Now face the punishment of your sin!" The pharaoh pointed his finger at the old man.

"No, this isn't supposed to end yet... Not like this!" The old man got rid of the millennium rod's dagger sheath.

"What is he going to do with that?" They looked at him warily.

"O' Lord of Darkness, lend me your power as the exchange of my soul!" The old man stabbed his own heart with the millennium rod's dagger.

Suddenly there was a dark smoke appeared from the wound, it became bigger and covered the old man's body.

"Something isn't right..." Mana surprised by millennium ring's weird reaction toward the dark smoke.

They kept the distance from the dark smoke, but they didn't take the eyes from it. Khairo thought that he must stop it before something happened, so he ordered his white dragon to aim the light blast at it. When the light blast hit the dark smoke, it suddenly disappeared.

"Do you think you could destroy me with such a weak attack?" The smoke started to fade away and they saw a large shadowy figure with hideous look smiled creepy at them.

"T-That old man... turned into a monster!" Khairo move one step backward.

"Heh heh... Are you scared little boy?" The shadowy creature mocked him.

"O-Of course I'm not, I would never be scared of someone like you!" Khairo ordered his spirit monster to attack once again, this time his sister's white dragon helping him as well.

"It's pointless, no matter how many of you attacking me... The result would be just the same." The scary monster laughed evilly.

"You would never know unless you've tried, right?" Jouno took out her blade from its sheath and rushed toward it.

"You really are a persistent and annoying girl, this time I'm going to make sure that you're dead with my own hand!" The large figure slammed its hand at Jouno and threw her away.

Bakura quickly caught her before she hit the wall, but his back and left arm took the damages instead of her and made him screamed in pain.

"Bakura!" Jouno quickly stood up from the ground and checked Bakura's condition.

"...Don't worry; I would never die because of this." Bakura smiled at her, tried not to make her worried.

"Trying to act tough in front of the people doesn't change the fact that you're nothing but a pathetic little thief, just accept the fact." The monstrous being about to walk approaching Jouno and Bakura's place when suddenly it was intercepted by a blast of light.

"Hmph, even though you've changed into an ugly monster you still a coward... Attacking a girl and injured weakling." Seth smirked at the monster and Bakura at the same time.

"Just consider you're lucky... If I'm not hurt, right now you would crawl under my foot." Bakura gave him a deadly glare.

"As if it would happen." Seth answered coldly.

"Just wait until this whole thing is over..." Bakura grumbled at him.

This time Seth ignored his mumbling and focusing himself on their enemy.

"Are the meaningless talks done already? I'm getting bored with it." The monster crackled its neck.

"I'm just giving you some spare time before facing your death." Seth turned to Atem that nodded at him.

"Whatever your plan is, it would be useless against me." The monstrous figure lengthened its hand toward the pharaoh.

"We'll see." Atem let his cousin used the power of the millennium pendant to combined the white dragons into a three headed white dragon.

"The white dragons are merged into one!" They were amazed by the divine creature that just appeared before their eyes. The monster became speechless as it looked at the three headed white dragon.

Atem commanded the spirit monster to launch an attack at the monstrous creature; however it was deflected by a counter attack and then made it headed toward Jouno and Bakura in a very high speed.

"Look out!" Mana tried to warn them, but it was too late for them to escape the sudden assault.

"Jouno! Bakura!" They screamed panicky as the attack caused an explosion that created thick dust around the place.

"Noooo!" They tried to approach the place, but they were blocked by the creature.

"Relax... All of you, one by one will be joining them in death!" It gave them a very terrifying smiled.

"Hold on, who said that you can determine someone else's life?" Their eyes widened as they heard that familiar voice.

"T-That's impossible!" The monster didn't believe its eyes when it saw both of them managed to survive from the explosion.

"But there's something different with her blade..." Seth told the others.

Atem watched at it carefully then he realized that Jouno's blade had a power to absorb other's attack and made it into its own power. It seemed that Jouno had already known about the ability of her blade.

"Jouno!" This time Atem ordered the three headed dragon to launch its attack at Jouno's blade and made it became stronger than before.

"I won't let you!" The hideous creature tried to prevent Jouno from getting near with repeatedly attacks, but she managed to counter them all and finally slashed the monster right in its heart.

- To Be Continued -

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Finally the battle scene is over and the next chapter is epilogue~! XD

Please wait for it~ *bow* (_ _)


	27. Epilogue

The final chapter of the Eternal Vow, enjoy~ ^^

* * *

**~ Epilogue ~**

After everything that they had been through, they managed to unite their power and finally defeat the power of darkness. Now they had to headed back to the palace together, where everyone had waited for their return.

"So this is the end..." They walked out of the enemies' hideout slowly, to prevent installed traps activation.

"Yeah, I'm really glad that everybody saves." Mana couldn't stop smiling.

"Mister thief, your feet...!" Khairo pointed at Bakura's feet, that started to vanished slowly.

"Heh... I guess my time is finally over, huh?" Bakura looked at his disappeared feet then turned to the other that watched him sadly.

Mana didn't want to losing someone again, so she quickly use her _heka_ to heal him.

"I already said not to waste your power on me..." Bakura shook his head.

"B-but if we don't know unless we've tried." Mana tried to convince him.

"...Mana, please stop it." Atem grabbed her arm to stopped her, she looked at him and then cried in his embrace.

"Bakura..." Jouno looked at him with teary eyes.

"Jouno, let's go together... Just like our promise." Bakura offered his hand to her, but she didn't accept nor refuse it.

"...What's the matter?" Bakura asked her with a gentle voice, made her had no choice but to told him the truth about how she managed to get back to the living world and now her soul ended up attached to the necklace, so she couldn't go with him.

"...Alright then, I'll get you when the time comes." It was really hard for him to give her up, but he believed this was the best thing for both of them.

"Thank you." Jouno nodded at him gratefully.

"Bakura." He quickly turned his head.

"What is it pharaoh?" Bakura looked at him confusedly.

"... I know that we don't have a very, but if we got a chance to meet again... I'd really hope that we could become friends." Atem believed that he had to speak to the thief king or he wouldn't got any chance to do it again.

Bakura was froze for a moment by the pharaoh's unexpected words, then he chuckled, "Why not?"

Bakura seemed remember something important, he turned at Seth.

"Hey priest, You must protect Jouno for my place. If you dare to make her cry, you'll dealing with me... Even if I have to wake up from the grave to do it." Bakura gave him a deadly warning glare.

"Hmph, I would never do such a thing to her." Seth stared back at him as he hold Jouno in his arm.

"Glad to hear it..." Bakura gave them one last smile before he completely disappeared from their sight.

_Until the next time we meet again..._

**THE END**

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**~ Special Thanks To: ~**

The Reviewer :

* Anime-GuardianAngel aka. Angel, for supporting me from my first work till now (^ v ^)

* YamiBakura1988, for your support from Bond of Wrap

* Ruby Warrior Girl 730 (plus adding my works to your community)

The Favoriter :  Ruby Warrior Girl 730, dominicanessien18, Angel, princessamina 223, dragonwolf416, Pen-Woman, Inuyashaxxxlover, & looot.

The Alerter : Latina shewolf, SeiryuNoAme, sassysisters9294, Angel, yugioratemlover, fluffy24, dominicanessien18, Pen-Woman, Ruby Warrior Girl 730, YamiBakura1988, dragonwolf416, & Inuyashaxxxlover.

For Kira Blackwolf that adding this in your community and beloved readers~

Thank you very much for all your supports, I hope you enjoy the story~! *bow* (_ _)


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